Fantastic 5: Rise of the Silver Surfer
by BornToBeAWitch1989
Summary: Sequel to the Fantastic 5, an unknown entity has threatened the world. At the same time, Sue and Reed has to get through the prospect of marrying, Hunter has a personal crisis guaranteed to change hers and Johnny's life-More summary inside-
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys! Thank you all for being patient on the wait to the sequel of the Fantastic 5. I finally found the movie so I could follow the script there since there is no actual script to be found online- which sucked by the way. So here is the next installment of the Fantastic 5 franchise! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: This claim will be covered over the whole story. I do not own the Fantastic 4 and its characters. I only own Hunter and those you do not recognize.

Summary: Sequel to the Fantastic 5, an unknown entity has threatened the world. At the same time, Sue and Reed has to get through the prospect of marrying, Hunter has a personal crisis guaranteed to change hers and Johnny's life, Johnny has to suffer through a bizarre power problems, while Ben is charged with protecting his family.

Chapter 1

"The wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm will take place this Saturday," The young spokeswoman on the screen said.

Reed sighed as Sue looked at the screen. Hunter stood by her brother as Ben talked to some children. Johnny was his usual self, hanging around young girls and letting them take his picture with them.

"Okay kids, I'm gonna give you something special. Its call Thing dust," Ben said as the kids crowed around him and Hunter.

"Unbelievable," Reed said, his voice catching Hunter's attention.

Hunter kissed Ben's cheeks, waved to the children, and stood next to Sue. "What's unbelievable?"

"Hmm? Oh, just that there are bizarre anomalies that have been occurring all over the world, defying every known law of physics," Reed said as he shook the newspaper he held in his hand. "And all the media want to know is what china pattern Sue and I picked out."

"Well, I do think that you need to change your china pattern, but c'mon, of course they're going to be curious about your wedding. They care about the heroes, not the world going all doomed to hell." Hunter said as she slung an arm around Sue. "They're not brilliant scientists like you are."

Ben jumped in, "Sis here is right, but which ones did you pick? The blue ones with them little flowers? I really liked them."

Hunter and the other two looked at him. "He's got a really tiny little mind," Hunter said.

"Oh come on!" Ben said as a woman approached him.

Hunter laughed.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Sue said.

Reed looked up from his paper at her, "No, we are not postponing anything, not this time. This is gonna be the wedding you've always dreamed of and I'm not gonna let anything get in the way of that, not even the mysterious transformation of matter at the subatomic level."

Sue laughed, "That's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

She kissed Reed as Hunter gagged. Sue hit Hunter as they kissed.

"Which is really pathetic when you think about it," Johnny commented with a chuckle.

They broke away just as an attendant came up to them, "Dr. Richards, I'm very sorry, but it seems we're overbooked. But we do have some seats available in coach though."

Reed looked at the man and then turned around to see Ben picking up two young boys by the hand.

"Look, Mom!"

Hunter laughed at the boy's enthusiasm. Reed turned back to the attendant and with a smile, said "That should be fine."

Moments later, the team got onto the plane. Ben went ahead to the coach section of the plane and searched for his seat. Hunter watched him and snickered as he squeezed by a man with his large rock body. Reed stood and looked for a place to put his suitcase, upon finding one empty across from him; he stretched his arm and stuck it in the compartment. He averted his gaze when he saw a woman standing up to put her purse in the now full compartment. Reed pulled his jacket off as Johnny spoke.

"What do you guys think about trying to get an endorsement from an airline?" Johnny asked. "Get us a private jet."

Sue looked at him from her seat, "I think we have enough endorsement deals already."

Johnny laughed, "That is funny. No, but seriously, Reed, it could help you subsidize all your little inventions."

"No, thanks," Reed said as Hunter came up behind him.

"Excuse me," a woman's voice said, and Johnny backed up.

He took Hunter's hand, "Consider it. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Whoa, wait, where are you guys going?" Sue asked.

"I don't fly coach," Johnny said.

"And I am not flying in any more planes. The last time we flew, some madman in a stupid looking costume nearly flew us into the ground. I've got enough nightmares to last me a lifetime. So I'm gonna fly the natural way," Hunter said.

Johnny grinned and pulled her away. As soon as they left the airport, the plane flew up into the sky. Johnny flew up into the air with his famous catchphrase; "Flame on!" And Hunter simply let ice cover her body as she rose into the air and followed Johnny.

Inside the plane, Ben smiled nervously at the woman beside him and looked out the window. Johnny, encased in fire, appeared in the window. He waved and rolled to his back just as Ben slammed the shade down in irritation.

"I hope it rains," Ben said.

"Quit bugging my brother Johnny," Hunter said as she reached him.

Johnny looked over at her, "Well life isn't really that much fun if I don't bug him. Besides, just dating you is enough to bug him."

Hunter laughed as he pulled her to him and kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Just a few days later had the team at the newly renovated Baxter Building.

"Hey honey," Sue said as she walked into Reed's lab. "The city's trying to charge us for three squad cars they say we destroyed."

Hunter looked up from her work, "From when?"

"From the armored car robbery, but I only remember two squad cars getting thrown," Sue responded as she looked at the paper she held.

"What?" Hunter said as she got up. She took the paper from Sue and read it. "They're only trying to get money from us, those stinking rats."

Sue smiled, "As usual."

She turned to Reed, who was focused on his new hand-held palm reader.

"Reed," Sue said.

When she didn't get a response, she narrowed her eyes and the reader disappeared. Reed sighed.

"Alright, I'm putting it away," Reed said as he looked at her.

"Okay, I need to steal your power, that's the only way to get his attention," Hunter said. "Short of throwing a bucket of water over him."

Reed rolled his eyes as Sue chuckled.

"Get back to work," Reed said.

Hunter stood straight and saluted him, "Yes Sir! Back to work!"

Reed grinned at her antics as Hunter went back to her desk. He looked at Sue, "You were saying?"

Sue smiled, "I have a fitting in half an hour, the musicians after that, and I haven't even picked out place settings or the flowers. There's so much to do."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Reed said as he took her hands and pulled her towards him. "I'm sure, between the two of us, we'll get it all done."

"And what were you doing when I just walked in?" Sue said as she looked over his desk.

"I was inputting my to-do list," Reed said.

"Really?"

"Scouts honor," Reed said, putting up three fingers.

"You were never a boy scout!" Hunter said.

"Hush you," Reed said.

"Hey guys, new uniforms just showed up," Johnny's voice rang as he entered the lab. Hunter got up and stood next to Sue as they looked at the new uniform. "What do you think?"

"Ugh," Sue said, making a face.

"I agree. Johnny, our uniforms were just fine before, why do we have to…to…destroy it?" Hunter said.

Johnny looked at them and slowly dropped his hands.

"I think there's no way we're wearing that, Johnny," Sue said as she passed him.

Hunter followed and stopped in front of Johnny, "Sorry babe, I have to agree with her."

Johnny sighed, "You girls have no sense of fashion here!"

"Actually, Johnny, I think you don't. At least with the uniforms here," Hunter said as she kissed his cheek and continued to follow Sue.

He watched her walk away, "You have no sense of capitalism!"

Hunter simply waved her hand at him. He turned away and faced Reed, who went back to his desk.

"What's this?"

"Just a little hobby of mine," Reed responded.

"Yeah? Would it make a good toy or is it something, uh, science-y?" Johnny asked as he looked at the covered contraption.

"A little of both. Uh-uh," Reed cautioned as he caught Johnny taking a hold of the white sheet.

Johnny surrendered and watched Reed as he typed information into his palm at super-speed.

"You know, I've always been both impressed and disgusted at that," Johnny said.

Reed smiled as he stood up, "Yea, Sue says I'm addicted to it."

Johnny shook his head towards the ground, "I wonder why she'd say that."

Reed walked away and called for Johnny as he entered into another room of the lab.

"Keep it quiet, but, uh…I've cross-referenced and analyzed the global disturbances," Reed said as he sat down and Johnny stepped onto the platform.

The wall activated and images of stars in space, and numbers appeared.

"They're being caused by cosmic radiation, not unlike the kind which gave us our powers."

Johnny set the uniform down and sat in one of the chairs, "Wow, that's really…boring. So listen, I have a really serious wedding problem we have to talk about."

"Yeah? What is it?" Reed asked.

Johnny wheeled over and looked at him, "Your bachelor party."

Reed looked over at him and chuckled nervously, "No. Seriously, Johnny, no."

Reed wheeled away to the other side as Johnny responded.

"John."

"What?"

"Focus testing showed that "Johnny" skewed a little young," Johnny said.

"Seriously Johnny, no bachelor party," Reed repeated. "It's not my kind of thing."

Johnny rolled his eyes and wheeled to Reed. "Then do it for Ben. It means a lot to the big guy. You're gonna break his heart."

Reed wheeled away as Johnny continued, "He does have some sort of rock-like heart, doesn't he?"

"I've got too much to do before the wedding," Reed said. "Frankly, I think Sue might have a problem with it."

Once again, Johnny wheeled over to Reed, "You know what I think Sue would have a problem with?"

Reed sighed and wheeled away again.

"If somebody told her that you were actually investigating global disturbances and cosmic radiation, instead of actually focusing on the wedding, like you promised."

Reed wheeled back slowly as he looked at Johnny. Johnny looked back at Reed as the older of the two smiled. Reed looked back to the entrance as if to check if Sue was coming back or not.

"A bachelor party could be fun," Reed relented.

"Yes!"

"But no exotic dancers," Reed said.

Johnny sighed.

Meanwhile, in Latveria, in a seemingly empty castle, a lone statue stood in a room. Inside the large metal box, an old enemy woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

Already 6 chapters written…workin on the 7th. Thanks to Edward Haters for the first review of the story. And thanks to all the others for the Story favorites and alerts they make me smile. Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 3

Rap music played in the large club as Ben, Johnny, and Reed entered. Ben and Reed had looks of apprehension as Johnny had a cool smile on his face.

"This is it?" Ben asked.

"I don't know anybody here," Reed said.

"Yeah, I would have invited some of your friends, but you really don't have any," Johnny said.

Reed gave him a look.

"Hey!" A voice called out.

All three men looked to see two women come up to them. Ben widened his eyes as Reed spoke to Johnny.

"Johnny, we had a deal."

Johnny looked at him, "They're not exotic dancers."

Reed watched as Johnny stood in between two of the girls, wrapping an arm around the,. "They're just hot."

Reed and Ben looked at each other.

"You're Mr. Fantastic, aren't you?" One of the women asked. "That's so awesome."

Reed was quiet as she came up to him and wrapped an arm around him. Ben turned and walked away as Johnny smiled and winked at him. Two more women came up to him. Ben went to the bar.

"I'm gonna need a pitcher with the biggest handle you've got," Ben said to the bartender.

"No problem."

Ben danced on the spot as he waited for the drink. He looked around as he danced and stopped when he noticed a young man with bright orange, afro hair. He couldn't take his eyes off of it. Back at the Baxter building where Hunter and Sue were at, several military personnel entered the building. They entered the top portion of the building and approached a holographic secretary.

"Ms. Storm will be with you shortly," the woman said.

The lead man looked at her with an impressed look.

"Hello? Thanks, Roberta," Sue said.

He watched as the woman disappeared and walked towards Sue.

"May I help you?"

"We're here to see Dr. Richards," he said.

"I'm sorry. He isn't here right now," Sue said. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes," he said. "You can take me to see Dr. Richards."

"Okay," Sue said as she looked at him. "If you will give me a moment, I need to go and get Hunter."

"Of course," he said.

Sue turned and left the three in the lobby. Going into the hallway she called out for Hunter. When no response came, she went looking for her. A noise stopped her and she followed the sound to a closed bathroom.

"Hunter?" She called out with a knock.

"Yea, hold on a sec," Hunter said behind the door. The sound of a toilet flushing and running water followed.

The door opened to reveal a pale Hunter.

"Are you all right?" Sue asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Hunter said as she stepped out of the bathroom and turning the light off. She stepped into the direction of her room, but Sue stopped her.

Putting a hand on Hunter's arm, Sue spoke, "Are you sure?"

Hunter smiled at her and nodded, "I'm fine, just some food that didn't agree with me that's all."

Off of Sue's look Hunter continued, "Really. Trust me, I'm fine. Want did you want?"

"We have a guest who's very anxious to see Reed," Sue said as she let Hunter go.

Hunter raised an eyebrow and followed Sue to the lobby.

Back at the club, Ben had drank three large pitchers, Reed was telling the women of how the universe began and demonstrating it with his hands and fingers by stretching it out, and Johnny was somewhere in the club talking to women.

"When the universe began, it was no bigger than a marble," Reed said, "and then bam! It exploded. And in a trillionth of a second, it expanded exponentially to what became the universe we know today."

One of the girls sitting with him looked at him with wide eyes and spoke, "Wow. You're really smart."

"Well, thanks, Candy. That means a lot to me," Reed responded.

Another girl pulled at his arms and asked him to dance.

"Oh no, I don't really," Reed said as he shook his head.

"Yes, you do. Come on," another girl said as she pulled his other arm.

"No, no, honestly, no, no, no, please," Reed said.

But it was too late as another pull had him walking onto the dance floor still protesting. There was nothing that Reed could do as the girls danced around him. He was too nervous to dance.

"Just loosen up! Have some fun!" One of the girls said.

He moved some more and soon he was dancing. He used his body to his advantage as he stretched and pulled his body in different ways. Back by the bar, Johnny joined Ben and they watched Reed.

"Guy really knows how to loosen up," Johnny said.

"You're not kidding," Ben replied.

They watched some more as he danced with the girls and as Sue, Hunter, and the military personnel walked in.

"There he is," the man said.

"Yes," Sue said, "unfortunately for him."

Hunter spied Johnny and Ben, and walked over to them. She cleared her throat and Johnny looked at her.

"Hey! What are you doing here? This is a bachelor party, no girls allowed."

"It's not a party anymore," Hunter replied as she pointed behind her.

"Oh yikes," Johnny whispered as he saw the look on his sister's face.

Reed saw that face too and he stopped dancing. Sue turned to the man and spoke, "Shall we?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

Ben and Johnny quickly turned around to the bar.

"Think it might be clobbering time," Ben whispered.

"Trust me, it's gonna be worse than that," Hunter said as she leaned against the bar. She waved to the bartender. "Hey, you have any bottle of water?"

The bartender nodded and went to get one as she looked back to the men to greet Ben's face.

"What?"

"You okay?" Ben's gruff voice asked.

She took the bottle from the man and replied, "I'm fine."

Hunter pushed off the bar and walked behind them to follow Sue. She stopped behind Johnny and leaned over him.

"Don't think you're gonna get away with this," Hunter whispered in his ear.

She walked away as Johnny looked at Ben.

"What did I do?"

Ben shook his head.

Hunter reached the group in time to hear Reed greet Sue and the man.

"General Hager."

"Let's talk somewhere private," the General said as he shook Reed's hand.

Reed nodded.

"Unless you need to do Jell-o shots off someone's stomach," Sue said.

Hunter choked on the water she was sipping and the two looked at her.

"I'm fine," Hunter said.

They looked back at each other.

"I was just explaining to the girls about how the big bang led to-" Reed said. "This was Johnny's idea. I just went along."

The general walked away and Sue followed as Reed watched them. He looked at Hunter.

"Don't look at me dude, I wasn't the one "showing" the girls how the big bang started," Hunter said.

Reed gave her a look and walked past her. Hunter followed. Johnny and Ben joined her and they all entered the club's kitchen.

"How does Reed know the General?" Sue asked Ben.

"A few years back, the guy was trying to push a new missile defense system. Reed testified that the technology wouldn't work," Ben explained.

Hunter joined in, "Reed isn't the General's favorite man."

The General spoke, cutting off the rest of the conversation. "I'm only here Richards, because I'm under direct orders from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Personally, I don't like the idea of sharing sensitive information with a civilian scientist, especially one who enjoys the public spotlight so much."

"Always a pleasure to see you too, General," Reed spoke with a smile.

Hunter leaned back against one of the tables and looked at Johnny. She noticed where he was looking at and turned to see a young blonde woman looking back. She finished the rest of her drink and threw it in the trash. She walked in front of Johnny and deliberately stepped on his foot.

"Ah! What was that for?" Johnny hissed.

"Oh, sorry, did I step on you? I didn't mean to," Hunter responded sarcastically with a sickly sweet tone.

Ben snickered. Johnny looked at her confusingly as she turned away.

"Again, what did I do?" He whispered.

But no one answered him as all was focus on the General.

"What can I do for you?" Reed asked.

"As you may know, there have been recent unusual occurrences all over the world. Officially, we've downplayed their significance to the public, but we're concerned that these anomalies might pose a credible threat to our national security." The General said as he nodded to the blonde woman.

The woman stepped up and handed him a folder, "These were taken by one of our spy satellites three days ago."

Reed looked at the pictures and handed it off to Sue who looked at it and handed it off to Ben. Hunter looked at it over his shoulders.

"What is it?" Sue asked.

"We were hoping Dr. Richards could tell us," the General said.

"I'm afraid I've never seen anything like it," Reed responded. "Ben?"

Ben looked at the photo, "Well, I would say that it was a meteor, but the trail's all wrong. This thing's giving off its own energy."

The General nodded and pointed to the woman who then opened a computer.

"These have been appearing in remote areas throughout the world since the events started. Field personnel estimate its diameter to be 200 meters," the woman said.

The General spoke, "If we're gonna find out what this is all about, we need a way to locate and intercept that object."

Hunter looked at Reed then at the General. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman looking behind her to Johnny. She turned her head a little bit and she knew that Johnny had smiled back with a wink. She pressed down the urge to smack that smirk off of his face and listened to Reed. Ben noticed her posture of anger and stepped next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Hunter looked at him and smiled.

"It'd be possible to build a sensor, tie it into the Baxter building satellite grid and we can pinpoint the exact location of the object," Reed said.

Without him seeing it, Sue looked down with disappointment.

"Good, so then you'll build the sensor for us, we'll tie that to the-" The General spoke before being interrupted.

"I'm afraid I can't," Reed said, catching Sue's attention.

"What?"

"You see, I'm getting married this Saturday. I just don't have the time," Reed said as he backed up to stand next to Sue.

"Richards, your country needs your help," the General said.

Reed took in a breath, "Look, why don't you call Professor Jeff Wagner? He's head of the physics department at Brown. I'm sure he can help you."

General Hager looked at his team and back to Reed. The woman packed up the computer and the pictures. The woman looked at Johnny who raised an eyebrow at her. Hunter looked down at the table.

"I expected more, Richards," the General said, "even from you."

The general and the others left the kitchen.

"Reed, are you sure?" Sue asked him.

"I promised you didn't I?" Reed said.

Sue smiled and hugged him. They left the kitchen as Hunter turned around to face Johnny. He looked at the retreating blonde woman's back. He looked back at Hunter and smiled.

"Hey babe."

She stepped forwards with a look of anger on her face. Her eyes turned icy blue and Johnny swallowed.

"Uh, Hunter, come on, it was just a party," Johnny said as he straightened up.

Hunter narrowed her eyes at him and walked away. Johnny looked at Ben, "What did I do?"

Ben shook his head, "You're an idiot."

He followed Hunter out of the kitchen, leaving Johnny alone. Ben followed Hunter until she stopped at the edge of the street.

"Hey kiddo," Ben said.

Hunter barely glanced at him as he stood next to her.

"You might want to calm down before you freeze the people around you and turn them into a Popsicle," Ben commented.

Hunter looked at Ben and nodded. Ben pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks Benny," Hunter said as she pulled away.

She turned her head when she heard Johnny's voice in the short distance. She watched him talk to the woman and tears pooled in her eyes.

"I gotta go," Hunter said.

"Sweetie," Ben said as Hunter stepped away and walked down the street through the people.

He looked at Johnny who was now alone, the woman having left. Ben gripped his hands into fists and was about to go to Johnny and after a second, decided to leaving the clobbering to his sister.

Way back in Latveria, the statue was now alive and moveable. Pieces of the metal fell apart as a small man cut it apart. The statue growled as the man shook. Quickly without warning, a hand shot out and electricity shocked the man to death. The hand came up and pulled the mask off and threw it on the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next night, Ben found Reed on the roof working on something. "Hey, what are you doing up here?"

Reed turned around sheepishly, "Nothing, just, uh, needed some air."

Not one to be fooled, Ben replied as he went down the steps, "You're making that thing for the general, aren't you?"

Reed turned around.

"I'm guessing Susie doesn't know anything about it," Ben said. Off of Reed's frantic motion, he continued, "Don't worry. My lips are sealed. That is, they would be if I had any."

Reed chuckled nervously, "Look, don't tell Johnny."

Before Ben could speak, flames whooshed down on the roof.

"Don't tell Johnny what?" Johnny asked as he landed and flamed off.

"Great," Reed whispered.

"Are you building that thing?" Johnny asked as he walked towards them.

Reed responded, "No, it-"

"Does Sue know?" Johnny interrupted. "Cause if she finds out, you're gonna get an invisible kick in the nuts."

"Hey, hey, hey, we're keeping this quiet," Ben said as he put a hand on Johnny's chest.

Johnny responded, "I know."

"Don't worry," Ben said to which Reed smiled nervously and gratefully.

Johnny looked at Ben, "By the way, you know what's up with Hunter? She won't talk to me."

"I don't know, even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Ben replied.

"She's been acting weird since last night," Johnny said.

"Has she?" Reed asked.

"Yea, she got angry at me for no reason and stormed off. Now every time I enter a room, she walks out and every time I try to talk to her, she ignores me," Johnny said.

"Hmm, I hadn't noticed. She's down in the lab if you want to talk to her," Reed said.

Johnny nodded his thanks, and walked into the building. He followed the hallway into the lab and saw Hunter working at her desk.

"Hey," Johnny said as he sat down next to her.

Almost as soon as he sat down, Hunter got up. But Johnny grabbed her arm before she could leave.

"Please, don't," Johnny pleaded with her.

Hunter stopped.

"What do you want?" Hunter asked.

"I want to know what's wrong. You've been avoiding me since last night, and I want to know what I did," Johnny explained.

"Nothing is wrong. I was just tired that's all," Hunter lied.

"Don't give me that! I know you," Johnny said.

"Do you? Do you really know me?" Hunter demanded as she pushed his hand off of her. "How do you think I feel when you're playing flirting game with another woman while I'm in the room, and especially when I might be-" Hunter cut off her ranting.

"When you might be what?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing, just nothing," Hunter whispered.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night, about the party-" Johnny said.

Hunter set a hand on his chest, "No, the party was fine. You did a good thing for Reed. I'm not upset about that."

"Then what?"

"It's just…I know you Johnny, you're a player. You flirt and flirt without any kind of thought to what your girlfriend might feel." Hunter said. "Johnny, it hurts to know that you're out there doing that while I'm here doing my job with Reed. And last night, like I said, you're flirting while I'm in the room. That hurts."

Johnny sighed and pulled Hunter closer to him, "I'm sorry, you're right. I should've known better than to flirt while you're there. I'm sorry."

Hunter sighed as well. She hugged Johnny, "It's really hard to forgive you when you're giving me the puppy eyes."

Johnny grinned, "It's a part of my charm."

She giggled against his chest and pushed him away, "I gotta get back to work."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll make sure my flirting lies only for you," Johnny said as he brushed a strand of hair away.

"Thank you, now get out of here," Hunter said.

Johnny smiled and kissed her. He stepped backwards and turned to leave the lab.

"By the way, those endorsements you have?" Hunter asked.

"Yea?"

"Take them off, they look awful," Hunter replied.

Johnny let out a mock gasp of pain, "Oh that hurt…that hurt badly."

Hunter laughed as he left.

~~**Saturday- Day of Wedding**~~

Hunter sighed nervously as she sat on the toilet in the bathroom. Outside the door, Alicia and Sue were getting ready for the wedding. She looked at her small watched and sighed. It had only been one minute. She got up and paced back and forth and looked at her watched again. Another minute went by. She groaned annoyingly.

"C'mon, c'mon," she whispered.

She sat back down on the toilet and put her head in her hands. Then suddenly the timer beeped and her head whipped up. Hunter got up off the toilet and went to the sink. She closed her eyes and muttered to herself.

"Oh get a grip Ice!" She whispered.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked down.

_Positive_

She let out a whimper and covered her mouth as tears started to leak out from her eyes. Looking up in the mirror, she saw her tear-streaked face and quickly got a hold of herself before she broke down. Roughly, she grabbed the plastic stick and threw it in the trash. She took another deep breath, wiped the tears away, thankful that the mascara was water-proof, and opened the door. She walked down the hallway and into Sue's room in time to hear Sue.

"This isn't how I imagined it," Sue said as she looked out her large window.

"It never is," Alicia said from the bed.

Sue sighed, "No, Alicia. It just doesn't feel right."

"Sweetie," Alicia said as she got up from the bed, "I think even superheroes are allowed to have wedding day jitters."

Hunter took a deep breath and spoke, "She's right, Sue. I would think there would be something wrong if you didn't have the jitters."

Sue looked at Hunter in the doorway and noticed quickly something was wrong. She went up to her, took her hand, and pulled her over to one of the couches. She kneeled down on the floor.

"What is it? I can tell something is wrong," Sue asked gently.

"I can't, this is your day, not mine," Hunter said, tears already pooling.

Alicia followed the sound of their voices and sat next to Hunter. She took Hunter's hands and held them.

"You know you can tell us anything," Alicia said.

"Sue…I…can't," Hunter whispered.

Sue got up and sat next to Hunter on the other side and put an arm around her. "Tell me, we're family, and we're always there for each other. Isn't that what we promised each other that night after we stopped Doom?"

Hunter nodded as the tears broke through and trickled down her cheeks. Sue wiped them away as she waited.

"I'm…I…oh god, I'm pregnant," Hunter said.

Sue looked at her shocked, and pulled Hunter into a hug as she cried.

"Shh, it's okay," Sue crooned as she rocked Hunter.

"No its not, I'm pregnant, and I'm not even ready for a baby," Hunter said as she sat back up out of Sue's embrace.

"Yes it is. Look, you're not along here. You have me, Alicia, Reed, Ben, and even Johnny," Sue said. "We will help you get through this. Does Johnny know?"

"No! I just found out, and he can't know. Not now. I just… I have to wrap my head around this first before I can even get up the courage to tell him," Hunter replied. "Please promise me not to tell anyone. Not even Reed or Ben. Not Ben, he'll just kill Johnny before I tell him."

Sue laughed quietly, "I promise, I'm here for you if you ever need to talk."

"As am I," Alicia said.

Hunter looked at Alicia and at Sue, "Thank you guys." She wiped away the tears. She looked at Sue. "Boy am I glad you're not wearing your dress," she laughed.

Sue and Alicia laughed.

"Now come on, let's get you ready for your wedding day," Hunter said as she stood up and pulled Sue to her feet. "Now back to you, why do you feel like it's not right?"

"I don't know. It's more than just the jitters. Is my life always gonna be a circus?" Sue sighed. "Face it, we're not normal."

Alicia laughed, "Ben and I aren't normal, but we don't let it get in the way of us being happy."

"I think we are normal, I mean, we are human beings who just happened to develop abilities, of course that is just my opinion on the definition of normal," Hunter said. "Everybody views normal in a different way."

Sue looked at Hunter, still unsure.

"Do you love Reed?" Alicia asked.

Sue looked at Alicia, "More than I've ever loved anyone."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Alicia said with a smile.

Hunter wrapped her arms around Sue, "She's right."

"Thank you both," Sue said as she hugged Hunter and then Alicia.

"No problem, it is our jobs after all," Hunter said as she stepped back. She turned and picked up the hanger of the dress. "Now, let's get you into this."

Sue laughed and stepped in front of the mirror. Upon glancing at her image, she groaned.

"Oh, great."

"What?" Alicia and Hunter said simultaneously.

"I've got a zit," Sue said.

"Are you kidding me? First you're worried about living in a crazy world, and now you're worried about a little zit?" Hunter asked. "Woman, you got issues."

Sue gave her a look as Alicia stood up and laughed.

"Have you got any make-up?" Alicia asked.

"No, no, I got it," Sue said as she narrowed her eyes. "There, crisis averted."

The pimple disappeared as Hunter watched.

"Now all I have to do is concentrate on that area continuously for the next eight hours."

"You're crazy," Hunter said.

"Hush you," Sue said as she smacked her arm. "Now give me my dress."

Meanwhile, down on the side of the floor, Ben was looking for Reed and he stopped when he heard noises. He looked inside the room to see the person he was looking for.

"Reed, come on. You're gonna miss your own wedding," Ben said as he walked in.

"Just a minute, almost done," Reed said from the floor, half hidden by a large contraption.

Ben looked up to see Reed at the top. The rest of Reed's body was still on the floor. He retracted his body and slid off the floor.

"General, I'm putting the sensor online now," Reed said to a video of General Hager. "There. If there's a surge in cosmic radiation anywhere on the planet, you'll know about it."

"Let's hope so, Richards. We've already gotten reports of two more craters," the General responded.

"_Here comes the bride…_" Ben sang quietly.

Reed laughed under his breath, "All right, all right, just linking it to my P.D.A."

Ben grumbled as Reed linked it.

"And, uh, that's it."

"Good. That's great. Now, would you shave and put on your tux?" Ben asked. "You're getting married in an hour and you look like a bum."

"Absolutely," Reed said with a smile as he turned around.

Reed's smile died as he froze.

"What?" Ben asked.

Reed let out a chuckle as he looked at Ben, "I'm getting married."

Ben laughed and then Reed's body went down. Ben caught him.

"Oh geez!"

Ben held onto him as he walked, Reed's feet literally dragged along the floor behind them as it stretched.

"I'm getting married," Reed whispered.

"I've heard of getting cold feet," Ben muttered to himself. "I didn't think I would get to see one literally."

"Okay," Alicia said as she adjusted his tie, "hey, Johnny."

Johnny had snuck in quietly.

"Wow!" Johnny laughed. "Does that amaze anyone else? How did she know it was me? I didn't say anything!"

"Well to be honest, you kind of smell like ash," Alicia said as she pinned a white flower into Ben's suit.

Ben laughed, "You're late."

Johnny replied, "Oh, let's not make today about me. It's Reed and Sue's big day. Let's give them the attention for a change."

"Ow!"

"Oh, don't do that!" Alicia said as she smacked him.

Ben chuckled at his joke.

"You're perfect," Alicia said.

"You're perfect," Ben repeated.

Johnny watched them as they talked to each other and kissed. He made a face as they did that.

"I'll see you upstairs," Alicia said as they broke apart.

"Bye Johnny," Alicia said as she passed him.

Johnny looked at Ben, "So, it seems like you and Alicia are doing well. Annoyingly so, in fact."

Ben sighed, "Yeah. I'm a lucky guy."

"Yeah, you are. Question for you though," Johnny said. "How do you guys, um…"

Ben looked at him as Johnny snapped his fingers and made a motion. His eyes widened when realization dawned on him what he was trying to say. "That's none of your business!"

"All right, I'm just concerned," Johnny said as he backed away. "I'd hate to wake up one morning and find out she was killed in a rock slide."

Johnny ran as Ben shouted, "I'll show you a rock slide!"


	5. Chapter 5

When I went to upload this chapter…I found out that somehow...this chapter is chapter 4 and so I had to re-write an entire section in this chapter. I was not happy! I remember writing this chapter, but like I said, somehow it was chapter four. So for you guys, I am writing this one again and uploading it. Thanks to witchbaby300 for making me want to upload this one early.

Please enjoy my hard work.

Chapter 5

"Oh thank you," Alicia said as a young woman handed her two bouquets of flowers.

"You're welcome," the woman replied.

Alicia chuckled after the woman left.

"Johnny," Alicia said to him. "You shouldn't tease him so much."

Johnny poured himself a glass of champagne and smiled.

"It was a joke," he replied.

"I don't know," Alicia said. "I think it bothers you to see him really happy and in love."

Johnny set the bottle down and walked up to Alicia.

"Why should it? I've got Hunter," Johnny replied.

"Maybe so, but I think you're still jealous," Alicia countered.

He took a sip of his drink and laughed.

"You think I'm jealous? Have you seen the woman I'm dating now?"

"No," Alicia said.

Johnny looked at her as she laughed.

"I think you're wrong," Johnny said. "I'm not jealous."

"Whose not jealous?" Hunter said as she came up to them.

"No one," Johnny replied as he looked at her.

Alicia handed Hunter the other batch of flowers and Hunter thanked her.

"Ta da!"

Hunter, Alicia, and Johnny turned at the voice to see Ben bringing Sue out.

"Hey!" Johnny said. "It's the bride of stretchy man."

Hunter rolled her eyes as Sue sighed with a shy smile.

"Don't start," Sue said.

"Eh, don't listen to him," Ben said, turning to Sue. "You look gorgeous."

"Big brother is right, Susie," Hunter said as she squeezed through Johnny and Alicia. "You look absolutely and positively beautiful."

"Thank you," Sue said as she hugged Hunter.

"I'll see you out there, sweetie," Ben said as he took Hunter's hand and pulled her. They went up to Alicia and took her out.

Johnny drank up the rest of his drink and set it down on the table nearby before he stood in front of Sue.

"You know, you don't look completely ridiculous in that dress," Johnny said.

Sue looked at him, "Is that obnoxious brother talk for 'you look kind of nice'?"

"You look beautiful," Johnny said.

Sue looked at him and gave him a smile, "Thank you."

Johnny took her hands and held them as he spoke, "Dad would be proud."

Sue nodded in agreement and they hugged. They pulled apart and stood in the doorway to wait for their cue. Music rose and Ben, Alicia, and Hunter walked out together up to the front where Reed and the minister stood waiting. As they walked along the pathway, they heard the people beside them whisper. Finally they reached Reed and they took their respective spots.

Suddenly, Reed's pocket began beeping and he quickly pulled it out.

"Reed," Ben whispered, "will you shut your cell phone off?"

"You actually brought that here?" Hunter hissed at him. "Are you insane!"

Reed looked at her as he pushed buttons on his PDA. Then the wedding march music came on and he looked over to see Sue and Johnny walking out into the sunshine. He put the object away as the people around them stood up. Johnny walked Sue up to Reed and let her go. He looked at Hunter and winked at her. Hunter smiled.

"You look beautiful," Johnny mouthed to Hunter.

"Thanks," She mouthed back. "You look handsome."

Johnny rolled his eyes and blushed. Hunter turned her eyes on the main couple.

"Dearly beloved," the preacher started, "we are gathered here today to -"

A helicopter rose up, interrupting the preacher. The blades let out blasts of wind at them. A man inside spoke through the speakerphone.

"Sue and Reed, congratulations on your wedding!"

Sue laughed as she and Reed looked at each other.

"Where was I?" The preacher said. "Oh, yeah. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this couple, Reed Richards and Susan Storm-"

Ben's blowing of his nose interrupted the preacher and Hunter laughed before she covered her mouth.

The preacher continued, "In the bond of holy matri…moni."

Reed's PDA had gone off once again during the speech and he pulled it out. Sue looked at him horrified.

"I can't believe you actually brought that thing to our wedding!" Sue said.

"I know, but there's a good reason. We have to get through this quickly," Reed said as he looked at Sue and the preacher.

"Oh that's romantic," Sue quipped.

The preacher looked at them, "Should I continue?"

"Yes, please," Reed answered.

"There are many kinds of love-"

"Could you skip to the end, please?" Reed asked.

"Reed!" Sue said.

"Excuse me?" The preacher asked confusingly.

The PDA beeped again and he pulled it out. Wind started blowing as the people chattered around them, confused. Everyone looked up to the sky.

"It's too late," Reed said as the helicopter above lost power.

People started screaming and running towards safety as the helicopter slammed into the roof and headed for them. The blades of the helicopter swiped the chairs, making them fly. People continued to run from the copter and some pushed Alicia and Hunter aside. They were pulled apart as more people pushed them. Reed saw a couple fall to the ground and he pulled them out of the way thanks to his power. Sue stepped down from the podium and brought her hands up. The force field came up and barricaded the helicopter, preventing it from hitting them. But the back end of the helicopter headed straight for Alicia who shouted. Hunter looked over to see Ben step in front of her and grab the end, holding it until it broke off. He threw it to the ground. Everyone looked up to see an object fly through the air.

Reed looked at Johnny, "Johnny."

"This is Dolce," Johnny whimpered.

Reed gave him a look and Johnny groaned. He took off a running start and flamed on. Hunter watched as he flew after the object. She heard a scream and looked around to spot the little flower girl being pushed over the edge by someone who wasn't paying attention.

"Claire!" The little girl's mother screamed.

Hunter took after her. Her clothes broke apart as her body iced over and she jumped over the ledge. She grabbed the little girl before she passed the first window below them.

"I gotcha, sweetie," Hunter said to her.

Hunter floated up until she was on top of the railing. The mother came up to her and took Claire from her.

"Thank you," the mother said.

Hunter nodded, "You're welcome."

Hunter saw Sue sitting on the steps of the podium and sat next to her, her body still in ice since her clothes were gone. Sue started crying and Hunter put her arm around Sue.

Up in the air, Johnny still went after the object.

"Man, he's fast," Johnny said as he watched the object go.

Johnny watched as it passed through a building effortlessly, and he soared around to the other end to wait for it. His jaw dropped as he watched the object, as it turned out to be a Silver man, come through the building towards him.

"Ah, that is cool," Johnny said.

The man whipped by him and Johnny quickly got out of the way with a yell. He went after him. They went down a building, through a street, and into a tunnel.

"Show-off," Johnny muttered as he watched the man go through his board to end up upside down and then back up.

Johnny had to avoid the buses and cars as the other man just simply passed through them. They sailed out of the tunnel and into the air. Johnny continued to chase after him, and he put on a burst of speed to catch up. Suddenly the man turned around and Johnny couldn't stop his momentum. He grunted as the man grabbed his throat.

"Can we talk?" Johnny asked, his voice high.

The man ignored him as Johnny choked. He flew into the sky, towards space as Johnny's flames died off. There was no oxygen left to fuel his fire.

"Okay," Johnny muttered as his eyes closed. "You win."

His body went limp and the man threw him back to earth. Johnny fell through the air as the oxygen he needed came back to him. As soon as he regained consciousness, he looked around and panicked.

"Flame on!" He shouted. "Come on! Flame on!"

Flames finally covered his body but it flickered out, as he got closer to the ground. He slammed into it and rolled into a nearby tent, which burst into flames. He crawled out coughing as the two men who lived in the tent ranted. Johnny turned around and collapsed on his back with his eyes closed. He opened them back up and was greeted to the sight of a camel.

"Hey," he said.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's another chapter for you guys! I thought I would get into a upload/writing mood since today is my last day of class before Finals week and before summer starts. The year has gone by really fast! Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 6

"It looked like a man, but completely covered in silver," Johnny said, "and it was flying this, like…like a surfboard type thing. I know that sounds crazy."

"Oh, no, not at all," Reed said.

Hunter sat next to Johnny as Sue gave him a glass of water. Ben, General Hager, and Reed stood facing them.

"So, did you follow the shiny man to the Lollipop Land or to Rainbow Junction?" Ben said sarcastically.

"Ben! There's no reason for that!" Hunter said.

"Look, I know what I saw," Johnny said.

Reed stepped in, "Thank you. It's all right, Johnny. Whatever this thing's physical appearance is, it has the ability to convert matter and energy."

"So it caused the anomalies," the General said.

"It seems to radiate cosmic energy when it exerts itself, randomly affecting matter," Reed said. "Evidently this…entity…this…Silver Surfer didn't want to be detected."

"It destroyed the sensor," he continued.

"It knew it was being monitored?" Sue asked.

"And traced it back here. We're dealing with something highly resourceful," Reed said.

Johnny suddenly stood up and groaned.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, I just…I got to walk this off," Johnny answered.

He walked away and Sue followed him.

"We have to destroy this thing before it attacks again," the General said. "Richards, find me another way to track it."

Reed nodded as he left.

"We can't kill something that's alive!" Hunter said.

"Hunte-"

"No, Reed. We are not killers, we don't kill. I'm all for stopping him before he attacks, but I am not going to be a part of something that will kill a being," Hunter said.

"Hunter, we-" Reed started again.

"I'm gonna go find Johnny," Hunter said before she turned away and left.

Reed sighed and followed her. Sue stood by the elevator as it closed and walked towards Reed.

"Sue, I am so sorry," Reed said. "The only reason I didn't tell you about it is because I didn't want you to worry."

"I'm not mad that you built the sensor. It was the right thing to do," Sue said.

Reed smiled," Oh great."

He turned and walked away. Sue narrowed her eyes at his back and he suddenly stopped mid-walk. A force-field contained him from the front and back, squashing him.

"I wasn't finished," Sue said.

She turned him around, and Reed spoke, "Okay, continue."

"See, this proves exactly what I've been saying all along," Sue said as she walked towards him.

"Could you drop the force field, please," Reed asked.

"We can't even- oh, sorry," Sue said as she released him.

She continued as he reformed.

"We can't even have a wedding without it turning into World War three," Sue said.

"I know. But once we are married, everything will be back to normal," Reed promised.

Sue countered back, "We will never have normal lives as long as we do what we do. How could we possibly raise a family like this?"

Reed was speechless.

"I'm going to…I'm going to go check on Johnny," Sue said before she turned around.

Johnny stood on the balcony as Hunter leaned against the doorway.

"You okay?" She asked.

Johnny turned towards her. She watched him as he let out a breath and didn't answer her. He bent down a bit and stood back up.

"Johnny?"

He turned away from her and stood up on the railing.

"Whoa, wait a minute, what are you doing?" Hunter said in alarm.

"Flame on!" He shouted and jumped of the railing.

"Johnny!" She shouted and ran after him.

She watched as fire barely covered his body. He headed towards the ground and she ran from the balcony to go outside. She met up with Sue in the hallway and they both headed out. Johnny landed on the ground as soon as the fire dissipated away. A car alarm sounded and a bystander came up to him.

"Hey, are you all right, pal?" he asked.

He groaned and stood up, leaning against the light post. Sue and Hunter came out of the building and headed for him.

"Johnny, Johnny, are you okay?" Sue asked as they reached him.

Johnny weakly replied, "I don't know. I feel really strange since my run-in with surfer boy."

"Maybe we should get you checked out," Sue said as she put a hand on his forehead.

Suddenly, as Hunter watched, a golden glow went from Johnny to Sue and she jerked away. Sue started to glow and her clothes burned.

"Why'd do that?" Sue asked.

"I didn't do anything! Stop, drop, and roll!" Johnny cried as Hunter watched.

Sue frantically tried to smother the flames but her efforts were fruitless as it grew until she was on fire.

"Stop, drop, and roll!" Johnny shouted. "Oh my god!"

"Sue!" Hunter cried.

Sue screamed as her clothes were burned off and she rose into the air.

"Sue!" Both Johnny and Hunter cried at the same time.

"Hold on, I'll get you okay!" Johnny said as he looked up. "Flame on!"

Instead of the usual flames, he went invisible.

"Johnny?" Hunter watched as he disappeared before her eyes.

"Hey, watch it!" He said as someone bumped into him.

Another bump from someone and he fell.

"Johnny? Where are you?" Hunter asked as she couldn't see him anymore. She looked up and watched Sue on fire.

Reed stepped off the elevator and into a room. He was focused on his P.D.A that he didn't see Sue floating in the air.

"Reed! Reed!" Sue cried. "Help!"

Reed finally saw her, "Sue?"

"I'm on fire! Reed!"

He ran towards the window and called out, "Sue! What's going on?"

"I'm on fire!" She answered him.

"You're on fire!" Reed repeated.

"Ya think!" Sue hollered.

"Hold on," Reed said as he looked around.

"Pull me in!" Sue screamed as she lost gravity and headed for the ground. "Help!"

Sue fell as Reed watched. She floated in the air as the pedestrians screamed in glee.

"I'm not Johnny!" Sue screamed in answer to a bystander's "It's Johnny!"

Reed ran out into the crowd, "Sue, how did this happen?"

"I touched Johnny, and then this!"

"Reed!" Hunter cried as she joined him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he answered.

"Well where's Johnny?" Reed asked.

"Here," Johnny responded.

"Oh!" Hunter said as she stepped away in surprise.

Reed turned to the voice.

"Try it again," he told him.

"Get me down!" Sue screeched.

Johnny headed for Sue and grabbed her wrist. Quickly, Johnny appeared as the fire left Sue. She landed on the ground and gained some whistles and camera flashes. She was nude.

"Nice," Johnny whispered as he flamed his hands.

"Johnny," Hunter said as she stood next to him, her hands stretched out.

"Don't!" Reed demanded.

Hunter looked at him. She was about to touch Johnny. She looked at Johnny, swallowed thickly, and nodded.

"Hey, get out of there," Reed said to the photographers. "Sue, your clothes."

Sue looked up at him and around to the other people. She went invisible.

"Why does this always happen to me?" She moaned.

~~Half-an-hour later~~

"All of Sue's results are normal," Reed said as he looked into the microscope filled with cells. "But Johnny's-"

"Johnny's are what?" Johnny said as he leaned against the table, Hunter beside him, close enough to be close, but far enough to not touch him.

"Your encounter with the Surfer has affected your molecules," Reed said. "They're in a constant state of flux."

Johnny nodded and inhaled. "Is that bad?"

"Well, it caused you to temporarily switch powers with Sue," Reed responded. "Ideally, I'd like to run some more tests."

"Would you like a volunteer?" Ben asked as he put his drink down and headed for Johnny.

All but Ben hollered "No!"

"No, no! Hey! This is serious," Johnny said as he hopped onto the table.

"I just wanted to give him a hug," Ben said as he turned towards Reed.

"We don't know the extent of his condition yet," Sue said.

"It could be progressive. It could be degenerative," Reed said.

"It could be fun," Ben replied.

"No, Ben!" Sue said.

Ben ignored the warning and touched Johnny's shoulder. Quickly the power swap occurred and Ben stepped away.

"Ben!"

"Whoa! Hey!" Ben said out loud as he smothered the fire on his body. "Hey, it's me. I'm back!"

Ben was now normal like he once was before the storm. Reed looked at him and then back to Sue. Hunter went at Ben and hit him in the chest.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"Hey, hey, sis, calm down!" Ben said as he grabbed her hands.

"Don't tell me to calm down you idiot!" Hunter said.

Sue and Reed looked at Johnny as Hunter pummeled at Ben.

"Hunter!" Reed said.

She looked back and her eyes widened. Johnny was now covered in rock. He looked down at himself and then grabbed a reflective surface. He looked into it.

"Oh. My. God! Come on!" Johnny shouted. "We just said this is serious!"

Hunter hid her snickers and smile behind her mouth as Ben laughed.

"Oh yea, serious," Ben laughed.

Johnny looked into the surface again, "Oh you got to be kidding me!"

Ben pointed at him and laughed. He snapped his fingers and a flame appeared.

"Hey, not bad!"

"Incredible," Reed whispered as he looked at Johnny.

"Reed, you better be able to fix this," Johnny said.

"I'm right on it," he responded.

Suddenly a ball of fire flew by and hit Johnny in the face.

"Ben, stop that!" Sue said.

"I'm starting to see why you like that. Ha!" Ben said as he laughed. Then he stopped when Johnny began to advance. "No, no, no, no, no, no!"

Johnny touched Ben and they both went back to normal.

"Aw crap!" Ben said.

"Serves you right!" Hunter said.

Ben looked at her.

"That's not funny," Johnny said.

"You're damn right it's not! Now stop it!" Hunter said. "Now I am tired of this. You need to quit treating this like it's a game, and you," Hunter pointed at Reed, "stop talking as if this is a disease and sounding like he's going to die. He's not!"

She looked at Ben and walked out.

"Hunter!" Ben cried after her.

"She's right," Sue said.

Johnny looked in the direction where Hunter left, and turned towards the others.

"What am I supposed to do in the meantime?" he asked.

"Just, uh, try to keep your distance from us," Reed said.

Johnny looked at him and Ben without an answer and walked away.

"You and me are gonna be spending a whole lot of time together pal," Ben said to the retreating Johnny.

"Ben," Sue sighed.

He looked at them, "What?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Only a day later and Sue sat on the couch in the living room. She nibbled on her thumb as she watched the news about her.

"My inside sources are telling me that the unlucky bride-to-be, Sue Storm," the newscaster said, "turned invisible and it seems she's staying that way after yesterday's embarrassing fiasco."

Reed walked into the room as Sue closed her eyes. He stood by the couch and watched with her.

"Coming up next, the Invisible Woman's greatest fashion blunders and an impromptu dance routine from former scientist Reed Richards," The newscaster continued.

Reed jumped into action after hearing his name. "Sue, why do you keep watching this? Just ignore it."

He picked up the remote control, turned off the TV, and faced Sue.

"I can't ignore it, Reed," Sue said as she put her head into her hands. "There's no getting away from it."

"I believe there is," Reed said.

"How?"

Reed sighed, unable to give her an answer.

"See, no answer," Sue said.

Reed sighed again and sat against the TV stand. Something sparked in his brilliant mind and he looked at Sue.

"Yes, there is," Reed said. "What if, after this crisis is over, we leave it all behind?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We move out of the Baxter Building," Reed stood up and sat next to Sue. "I'll take a teaching position somewhere, get back to my research, and the two of us will live out lives and raise a family like normal people."

Sue smiled, "You would do that?"

"Nothing's more important to me than our future together," Reed replied.

Sue's smile got bigger and she hugged Reed, "Oh, thank you."

They pulled apart and Sue laughed. A thought popped into her head and she frowned.

"What about Ben, Johnny, and Hunter?"

Reed replied, "Well, they'll understand."

Sue opened her mouth, but Reed continued.

"Besides, Johnny's always been more of a solo act, and well he's got Hunter."

"Oh I don't know…" Sue trailed off thinking of Hunter's delicate problem.

"It'll be fine," Reed said.

Sue bit her lips, "Oh alright, let's not mention it to them yet. Johnny's got enough to worry about as it is with his power problems."

Unbeknownst to them, Johnny had overheard their entire conversation in the hallway and left upset.

"And Hunter, well…she has enough on her plate as well."

Reed cocked his head confused.

"Hunter? I'm not sure I understand," Reed asked.

Sue waved her hand and stood up, "It's nothing."

"Sue," Reed said.

She looked at him and away. "It's not important. It's fine."

Reed didn't believe her and he stood up.

"Sue."

She looked at him, again biting her lips.

"Ooh, I promised not to tell," Sue said.

"Sue, I need to know. If whatever this is, is going to affect her abilities and the performance of this team, I really need to know," Reed said as he gently took ahold of her arms.

"She's gonna kill me for this," She said. "She's pregnant."

Reed widened his eyes and stuttered, "She's pre-preg-pregnant?"

Sue nodded, "yeah."

Down in the kitchen where Hunter was gathering food for her and Ben stood by the island, and Alicia sat on the couch, Johnny came in.

"They're breaking up the team!" Johnny declared.

Hunter pulled out a plateful of cut up meat and cheese, closed the fridge door, and set it down next to another plateful of crackers. She smacked Ben's hand away.

"Those are mine," she said to her brother.

"Huh?" Ben asked in response to Johnny's declaration.

"Reed and Sue, I just overheard them," Johnny said. "They want a nice, normal, boring-ass life. No more Fantastic Four."

Hunter looked at Ben.

"Well, what do they expect us to do, keep it going, just the three of us?" Ben asked.

"And call ourselves what, the Fantastic three?" Johnny said.

Hunter picked up the plates and sat down next to Alicia. She was afraid of the real answer. Alicia put her hand on Hunter and squeezed in reassurance.

"When were they gonna tell us?" Ben continued.

Alicia answered for them, "They'll tell you when they're ready to tell you. It's their decision, not yours. You can't be mad at them for doing what makes them happy."

Ben and Johnny looked at each other, not satisfied with the answer. Reed came in.

"Guys, we've got a serious problem," he said.

Ben and Johnny followed him. Hunter stayed behind for a bit.

"Do you think everything really will be allright? Even if Sue and Reed are wanting to get out." Hunter asked Alicia.

Alicia smiled, "It will be okay, trust me darling. Now go save the world."

Hunter barely gave her a smile as she stood up and followed the others into the lab. She joined the others as Reed talked.

"I've been cross-referencing the Surfer's radiation through every astronomical database. Altair 7, Rigel 3, Vega 6," Reed explained as he pushed several buttons and the screen rotated and expanded.

"He's been to all of these planets?" Ben asked.

Reed nodded, "And now they're lifeless, barren, some even shattered."

"My god," Hunter whispered.

"Everywhere the Surfer goes, eight days later, the planet dies," Reed continued.

"And how are we gonna stop him?" Ben asked. "We don't even know where he is."

Each looked at the screen and at one another. The severity of the situation impacted them.

"What about the craters?" Sue asked.

Reed didn't answer as he pushed buttons and the screen switched images. His eyes widened and he straightened up as he realized what the screen was telling him.

"They're appearing in a numerical sequence," Reed said. "The last crater was formed in Greenland, so…the next in the sequence should be…latitude: 51 degrees, 30 minutes north; longitude: 0 degrees, seven minutes west."

"Wait a minute, what?" Hunter asked. "He's coming here?"

"Looks like it," Reed nodded. "Let's go."

Moments later, they suited up and left. Fifteen minutes later, they were on a helicopter flying towards their destination. Inside the helicopter the team sat.

"When he surfaces, you've got to move the fight away from the crowd," Reed said as he looked out his window.

Hunter sat across from Ben next to Johnny. She looked at him as he spoke.

"No, he's too fast to be contained," Johnny said. "When I see silver, I'm hitting him."

"Wait, you can't do that. We've got to stick to the plan and work as a team," Reed said.

"Oh, so we're a team now?" Johnny quipped. "That's news to me."

"Not now Johnny," Hunter warned him.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Johnny responded to Reed.

Reed sighed, instantly understanding what Johnny was talking about. He sighed as he spoke.

"Look, we were gonna tell you guys-"

"When were you gonna tell us, when you moved our stuff out of the Baxter Building?" Johnny said.

Sue and Reed looked at each other.

"Johnny, this really isn't a good time," Sue said.

Ben joined in, "Kid's got a point, Reed. You should've told us."

"All right, all right!" Reed said. "That's enough! We'll talk about this later."

Reed looked at General Hager, who had joined them in the helicopter.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Hager cried.

Reed looked away without an answer. The helicopter lapsed into silence. Hunter looked outside her window to see the people down below gathering. She looked at the water to see a whirlpool developing. Her eyes widened.

"Oh. My. God," Hunter said, catching the attention of the others.

Then suddenly as she watched, a powerful wave erupted and smashed against the concrete and cracked it. The crack continued and hit the Ferris wheel, snapping the wires. They landed as the people ran screaming. They all got off and headed towards the wheel. The wheel fell slowly forward.

Reed turned towards Hunter and pointed at her.

"You stay here!"

"What? Are you crazy? Why shoul-" She ranted angrily before realization dawned on her. "You know don't you?"

Reed nodded silently.

"She told you!" Hunter screeched. "Doesn't matter what you say Reed, I'm helping whether you like it or not!"

She ran past Reed who failed to stop her in time. Reed sighed and ran after her. She watched Sue as she put her hands up and a force-field stopped the large wheel in place. Sue struggled as she pushed the wheel forwards. The wheeled moved backwards with the help of Ben as he held the bottom of the wheel. Hunter flew up into the air as she iced her body. She stood at the apex of the machine and waited until the wheel was almost in place. Reed helped even further by stretching his body and wrapping it around all the wires and the apex where Hunter was. As soon as it was deemed close enough by Hunter, she brought her hands out and cold ice streamed out and covered it. She covered both ends as it went closer and closer and then it froze over. Johnny, not one to be left out, flew into the air as soon as he saw the Silver Surfer.

He flamed up and headed towards the wheel, but a wire snapped and hit Johnny, pushing him towards Reed. Reed and Hunter watched as Johnny slammed into one of Reed's appendages.

"No, Johnny!" Reed yelled.

But it was too late as Johnny hit Reed and instantly they switched powers. Reed reformed and became a man of fire as Johnny fell through the air, his body flailing. He landed on the ground and his body moved as if it was made of jelly. The ice cracked and broke apart as the wheel regained it's momentum. Hunter watched in horror, as she could do nothing. Just as she was about to jump off the apex, another wire snapped away and hit Hunter in the side. The force of the wire pushed her off the apex and flying into the air, all the ice melted off her body in shock.

Reed gasped as he watched and he flew towards her. He caught her.

"Are you okay?" Reed asked as Hunter iced over once again.

She pulled away from him, "I'm fine."

"Guys?" Sue cried out.

They both looked down to see her stepping over the ledge and struggling even harder to push the wheel back. She kept walking backwards and a field appeared underneath her.

"What are you doing?" Sue continued as she walked backwards.

Blood started trickling out of her nose as she struggled.

"Ben!" Reed cried. "Lift it higher!"

Ben grunted from below the wheel, "I'll try."

With a deep breath, he pumped his arms up and pushed the wheel above his head. Reed flew over to the apex, where Hunter once was, and as soon as it connected, he blasted a stream of fire at it and melted them together. The force field disappeared as the wheel stayed connected. Sue groaned and landed on her knees. Ben panted and looked over to see a family hugging each other. The man nodded his thanks, and Ben nodded back. Hunter flew down to where Johnny was and landed next to him.

"Oh Johnny," Hunter murmured as she watch him flail a bit.

Johnny got control of his body and stood up. Hunter followed him as they hurried towards Sue. Reed ran past them and as he did so, he put his hand on Johnny, and the powers switched again. Johnny stopped as Reed continued on. Hunter stood next to him.

"Sue!" Reed cried.

Sue groaned as she lost her footing and Johnny noticed. He stepped forward and Reed noticed.

"Stay back!" Reed said, pointing to Johnny, "Before you get somebody killed."

Hunter looked at Johnny, noting his despondent look and back at Reed.

"How dare you," Hunter said. "How dare you act like this?"

Reed looked at her.

"Any one of us could've killed somebody! That's part of the damn job!" Hunter shouted. "He's trying to do something good to help these people, and all you do is shoot him down. He cannot help what's happening to him!"

Hunter turned towards Sue, "And you! How dare you tell Reed after you promised not to tell anyone, least of all him!"

She stepped towards Sue and Reed. Sue had tears pooling in her eyes as she listened to Hunter. Johnny grabbed Hunter's arm, ignoring the power swap.

"Babe, come on, it's okay," Johnny whispered as she leaned into him.

"No, it's not! How is any of this okay?" Hunter cried.

Johnny had no answer for her as she put her head into his shoulder. He held her to him as Reed did the same to Sue.

"Oh, my god," Ben said.

All looked at him and followed his eyesight. They widened their eyes as they looked into what was once a beautiful river. The water had disappeared and what was left was junk all over the place, fish flapping here and there, and a giant hole thanks to the Silver Surfer.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"What the hell was that?" General Hager yelled.

The group had moved into the building of where Hager worked at after the fiasco. Reed winced at Hager.

"We'll make adjustments," Reed said. "Next time we'll be ready."

Reed looked at Sue who stood next to Ben. Hunter sat on the table, still upset at Reed and Sue. Johnny stood next to her. They had swapped their powers back on the way down.

"Next time," Hager said. "There's no next time."

Hunter looked up at the General.

"You can't handle this alone," Hager continued. "That's why I'm bringing in some help."

"You bring in more soldiers and weaponry, you're gonna put more innocent people in danger," Reed said.

Hager opened his mouth to respond, but someone else beat him to it.

"No more than you already have," a man said.

They all turned to look as they recognized the voice. Johnny stood in front of Hunter. Hunter gasped. The others simply looked at him in shock. Victor Von Doom stood in the entryway and gave them a smile.

"Victor," Reed said, confirming their worst fear.

"No," Hunter whispered. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as if to protect the secret she held from her worst enemy.

Victor laughed, "What's the matter? Afraid of ghosts?"

Ben roared and ran at him. Hager moved out of the way as the others cried out. Ben slammed into Doom and pushed him into the concrete wall.

Ben whispered to Doom, "Since you're a ghost, you won't mind if I break your little neck."

"Let him go," Hager said.

"Don't you know who that is?" Johnny asked.

Hager looked at him, "He's Victor Von Doom. He's here under my orders."

"You're a complete idiot if you think he's under your orders," Hunter retorted.

"Young lady, I don't think you fully grasp the severity of the situation he-" Hager said to Hunter.

"You bet your ass I do! You just put all of us in danger by bring that asshole here!" Hunter shouted at Hager as she jumped off the table and towards him.

Sue grabbed her hand as she passed by and Hunter stopped. She pulled her hand away from Sue without looking at her. Sue sighed as she looked at Reed.

"That's enough!" Reed said. "Ben, let him go."

Ben squeezed and then let him go. Doom fell to his knees gasping for some air.

"How is this possible?" Reed asked. "How are you still alive?"

"No thanks to you five, especially her, that's for certain," Doom said as he pointed to Hunter.

Ben growled from above him and Doom looked up. He stood up, brushed away some concrete dust, and looked at Ben.

"Von Doom's made contact with the alien," Hager said. "He's got valuable information."

"Yeah, guaranteed to kill us," Hunter said.

Reed looked back at her as Hager ignored her and continued.

"Information that might just help save the planet."

"Now, let's be clear about this, shall we?" Doom said as he walked towards Reed.

Hunter stepped back as her fists iced over. Johnny noticed and took her hand, effectively stopping it by swapping their powers. He put an arm over her shoulder and turned her away.

"Look at me, not him," Johnny whispered.

Hunter nodded as she leaned forward on his chest. They hugged as the powers swapped back to the original owners.

"I hate you," Doom continued. "All of you."

Sue narrowed her eyes at him as he looked at them.

He continued, "But the world's at stake and…we need to work together to survive."

Without looking away from Doom, Reed spoke.

"General, we know firsthand, you trust Victor, and you're gonna regret it."

"So far the only one I've regretted trusting here is you, Richards," Hager responded.

Reed looked at Hager as Ben spoke, "Reed, don't agree to this."

Reed looked at Doom and watched the smirk appear on his face.

"Let's see what he's got," He said.

Hunter groaned as she pulled away from Johnny, "We're doomed…we're all doomed cause of Doom."

And despite the situation, Johnny laughed.

**Fifteen minutes later in the theatre of the government building.**

"I made a detailed recording of our little encounter," Doom said as he showed them the video recording.

All watched the large screen as the Surfer talked.

"All that you know is at an end."

The Surfer brought his hands up and an energy force blasted Doom across the snowy bank. The video paused.

"Well?" Doom asked.

"I like the part where he knocks you on your ass," Ben quipped.

"Rather knock him out to hell," Hunter whispered.

"Shush," Reed said with a smile.

"What?"

Reed ignored her and stepped closer to the screen.

Doom rolled his eyes, "Look at where the energy levels surge when he attacks me." He walked to the screen and pointed it out.

All watched as the video replayed in slow motion.

"There, you see it happening?" Doom said, and rewound it and played it much slower than before.

Reed watched as he spoke, "The energy was channeled through him, but it originated from his board."

Doom walked to Reed, "If we can separate him from the board, we can cut off his power completely."

"And that's what we have to do," Hager said from his seat.

"How?" Johnny asked.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't need you people would I?" Doom said as he looked at Johnny.

"Ah, so you admit you're stupid?" Hunter said.

Doom looked at her with an expression that clearly said he wanted to strangle her. Hunter squared her shoulders and looked back him, daring him to do so.

"You two should get started right away," Hager said, effectively stopping the stare-off.

Reed formed a fist as he heard the General. Doom smiled.

"I'm glad we have the opportunity to collaborate again," Doom said.

Ben growled as Doom stood next to Reed.

"I'll try to talk slowly so you can keep up."

Reed looked at him and Doom's smile faltered a bit.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Later that night, Reed, Sue, and Doom worked in the Lab while the other three were in a local pub. Johnny threw darts as Ben and Hunter sat at the table drinking, Beer for two and water for the other.

"How can we be working on the same side as Victor?" Johnny asked.

"You got me pal. Things were a lot simpler when I could just whale on the guy," Ben responded.

"You still can. Just wait until Doom makes a mistake," Hunter said as she sipped her water.

Johnny threw his last dart, and without warning it lit on fire as it made it's path to the dart board.

"Oh!" Johnny said as he quickly tried to smother the flames.

Hunter sighed as he failed to do so, and she got up, put her hand on the dart and squashed it with a blast of cold ice. Johnny smiled sheepishly at her and turned to the bartender.

"I'll pay for that," Johnny said.

"You better," the bartender said.

Hunter sat back down and Johnny followed. He sat in his chair beside her.

"I got to tell you guys, I'm starting to feel like a complete screw-up," Johnny said.

"Oh come on! Just one little mishap and you're screwed?" Hunter said.

"What she said. You're not a complete screw-up," Ben agreed.

"Thank you," Johnny said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Look kid, it's out of our hands," Ben said. "It's up to the eggheads now."

Johnny looked at him, "You think Reed's right? About the whole end-of-the-world thing?"

"He's never been wrong about this kind of thing before," Ben answered.

"Oh I can't listen to this," Hunter said. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, and get some more drink. When I get back, there's not going to be anymore of this 'the world's doomed' thing."

She got up from her chair and left the table. Johnny sighed as he watched her. Johnny continued the conversation now that Hunter was out.

"Well, I'm not exactly a deep kind of guy," He said.

Ben looked at him, "Really."

Johnny smirked and leaned on the table. He took his bottle in his hands.

"But if Reed's right and this is it…how would you want to spend your last few minutes?" He asked sincerely.

Ben looked at him, "Part of me would like to go out fighting…but the truth is… I'd like to spend my last couple of minutes holding Alicia."

Johnny sighed and leaned back. "That sounds pretty good. I mean, not the holding-Alicia thing. That's, you know, your girlfriend, not mine. I want nothing to do with her. Not to say that she's not attractive. She's very attractive. I mean, she's you know, so attractive. Even with the, you know-" Johnny rambled as he pointed and gestured. He took no notice to Ben's face.

"I can't even think a guy that wouldn't want to-" He continued before he was interrupted by Ben's thumping of the table.

He looked at Ben, "What I meant, is that I would want the same with Hunter. Speaking of, what is up with her?"

"I've got no idea. She gets angry with you, me, Reed, and now Sue. I'm not counting Doom for a reason. Who knows what's going on with her," Ben replied.

"It's almost as if…oh I don't know," Johnny said.

"As if what?"

"Well…too emotional than normal I guess," Johnny said.

Ben grunted, "I don't know. She's a woman. Women get emotional. Only time I know of that any woman would be extremely emotional is at their time of the month, or if they're pregnant."

Johnny brought up his beer to his mouth and paused at Ben's response. He thought for a minute.

"You don't think?" Johnny asked Ben.

They looked at each other. They shook their head, and both said, "Nah!"

Meanwhile, back at the Lab, Reed was hard at work. He was getting frustrated at not finding the answer that is so cleverly hidden. Sue walked in just as Reed stretched and picked up a book.

"How's it going?" Sue asked.

"I can't find the link," Reed groaned.

"It's gonna be all right. You have-"

"No, it won't be!" Reed yelled then sighed. "The whole world's counting on me, and I…just…"

"Reed, you're gonna find the answer. You always do," Sue said as she stood behind him.

"Yeah, thanks Sue."

"You need to relax."

"Yeah, right."

"You do," Sue pressed on.

Reed stood up but Sue pushed him down onto the chair with a thud.

"Reed, you need to relax," Sue said. "Take a deep breath."

Reed complied.

"Slower.'

Reed took another slower breath as Sue caressed his forehead.

"There you go."

Reed closed his eyes as she moved her hands down to his shoulder and over his arms.

"Good. Again," Sue said.

She leaned over his shoulder. "See? I can already feel your pulse slowing down."

She kissed his neck and then suddenly his eyes snapped open. Sue continued to talk as Reed realized something.

"A pulse," Reed said.

"Huh?"

Reed stood up and faced Sue.

"A tachyon pulse. Oh, I love you," he said to Sue as he kissed her.

"Glad I could help," Sue said to the air as Reed walked out of the room in excitement.

A day later, after Doom and Reed working together, they presented their solution to Hager.

"So how does this work?" The General asked.

"When we activate the field, it'll separate him from his board, making him powerless," Reed said.

"It's like a fish in a net," Hager said.

Sue and Reed nodded together, "Yeah."

"In theory, anyway," Reed said.

"How long before this is operational?" Hager asked.

"Three hours," Reed said.

Hager repeated him.

"I can only go so fast, since apparently I'm working by myself now," Reed said.

"What do you need to make this happen?" Hager asked.

"Actually there are a couple of things," Reed responded as Hager and him walked off, leaving Sue alone.

She put down her folders, and went to find Doom. She finally found him in a storage room working on something.

"What are you doing?" Sue asked him.

Doom stood up and turned towards him.

"Don't you knock?" Doom said.

Sue ignored him and said, "You're supposed to be helping Reed in the lab."

"Tell him not to worry," Doom said with a roll of his eyes. "I'll be there to hold his hand and finish his little project for him."

Sue looked at the desk to see something under a black cloth.

"Anything else?" Doom asked.

"How'd you do it? How'd you come back?" Sue asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Doom chuckled and stepped forwards, "Scares you, doesn't it? Hmm?"

Sue stood still.

"The things I can do," he continued.

"Did you know I could create a force field inside someone's body, and expand it until they explode?" Sue asked.

"Give it your best shot," Doom dared her.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Just get back to the lab," Sue said before she turned away and left.

Doom watched her as she walked away. Silently he followed her. Sue stepped out of the room and nearly collided with Hunter.

"Oh!" Hunter cried, startled.

"Oh! Sorry," Sue apologized as the door closed behind her.

They stared at each other.

"I'm sorry Hunter," Sue said.

"You already apologized, no need to do it twice," Hunter said before she turned.

Sue grabbed her arm.

"I don't mean for that. I meant…earlier… when I told Reed about…you know," Sue sighed.

"Oh that! Yeah, you see, that's one apology I can't accept right now," Hunter said.

"Oh Hunter, how many times do I have to say it?"

"Maybe nine months worth?" Hunter replied. "I can't believe you told him! After I asked you not to."

"I had to, Reed needed to know," Sue said.

"Did he now? He had to know?" Hunter said. "Was there some reason that enabled him to be privy to my secret?"

Sue sighed, "He pulled the team card, saying it would affect the team's performance."

"That's no excuse for you to blab it out to him!" Hunter cried.

"No, you're right. That is no excuse for me to tell him. It wasn't my secret to tell," Sue said, resigned.

"You're damn right it wasn't," Hunter sighed.

She ran a hand through her hair as she looked at Sue.

"I'm sorry," Sue whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.

Hunter sighed and wrapped her arms around Sue, giving her a hug. They stood together, holding one another as Sue cried.

Hunter pushed Sue back, "You done?"

Sue laughed and nodded as she wiped her tears away.

"I've got a doctor's appointment soon," Hunter said. "Wanna come with?"

Sue's face lightened up, "Really?"

Hunter nodded.

"Oh thank you!" Sue said with a watery smile.

"I'm still mad at you, you know. Just not as much," Hunter said pointing at Sue. "I can't stand crying people and puppy dog looks. You know, Johnny does that too."

Sue laughed and put an arm around Hunter's waist as they walked away. From behind the door, Doom smiled.

"_Good. Another advantage for me to destroy this team,"_ Doom thought to himself with a sneer.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A few hours later, Hunter and Sue walked into the Baxter Lab giggling and smiling over a piece of paper that the former held.

"Hey," Ben called out when he noticed them.

Quickly, Hunter whipped the paper down and hid it behind her back. Ben cocked a non-existent eyebrow at her.

"What was that?" Ben asked.

"Nothing," Hunter smiled innocently.

Ben narrowed his eyes at her.

"Really, it's nothing," Hunter said again.

"Okay…" Ben said, not really believing his younger sister. "Reed wanted me to let you guys know to suit up. We're heading out to intercept the Surfer."

"Okay," Hunter said. "We'll be ready."

Ben nodded and turned away. Once Ben was out of sight, Sue stood in front of Hunter.

"How much longer do you think you can keep this secret?" She asked.

"As long as I can," Hunter replied.

"It's not gonna be as long as you think, because pretty soon you will be showing, and it's gonna be that much harder to keep the secret," Sue explained.

Hunter sighed, "Oh I know."

Sue smiled and patted her shoulder, "C'mon, let's go save the world."

Both women went off to suit up and soon they were in the air. Many hours and several air bags filled with nasty upchucked food for Hunter later did they land in Germany. Finally they reached their destination in Black Forest. The team got off the caravan and headed for a tent filled with computers.

"Sir, he's holding his position north of here," a soldier said to General Hager.

"Good," Hager replied.

"General, give us a one-mile perimeter," Reed said.

"Forget it Richards," Hager said. "You had your shot, and you blew it. This is a military operation now, so jam the signal, get out of the way, let us do our job."

Hager brushed passed Sue and Reed.

"You don't understand," Reed started.

"No, you don't understand," Hager said. "So let me make it clear or you and your pack of freaks here."

Hunter gasped, "He did not just say that!"

Hager ignored her and continued, "I'm the quarterback. You're on my team."

"Football references? Seriously?" Hunter quipped and Ben smiled at that.

Once again, Hager ignored her.

"Got it?" Hager said.

Reed cocked his head at him, not pleased.

"But I guess you never played football in high school. Did you, Richards?"

"No, you're right. I didn't," Reed said. "I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd. And 15 years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century, I'm engaged to the hottest girl on the planet and the big jock who played quarterback in high school, well, he's standing right in front of me, asking me for my help. And I say he's not gonna get a damn thing unless he does exactly what I tell him and starts treating my friends and me with some respect."

Hager looked at him and gave him a smile. Then he walked away. He looked to one of his soldiers, "Give him what he wants."

As Reed watched Hager walk away, Sue stood next to her fiancé.

"I'm so hot for you right now," she said to him.

"Me too!" Johnny said as he clapped his hands on Reed.

Reed smiled, "Careful, Johnny."

Hunter whooped and kissed Reed on the cheek from behind, "That's one of the best things I've ever heard from you in my life! You're my favorite man now, sorry Johnny."

Johnny gave her a mock hurt look, but then smiled since he agreed with her.

"All right. Let's get to work," Reed said.

Each grabbed the machines designed to trap the Surfer and headed off into the woods. The men had their own while Sue and Hunter had one they shared. They walked for a few miles before Reed stopped.

"This is it," Reed said. "You have your coordinates. Set up your posts and rendezvous back here."

All split into four groups and headed to their destination. Reed found his and set up his machine quickly. Sue and Hunter found theirs. Sue set it down as Hunter looked around. Johnny found his as well and set it up. By the time Johnny set his up, Ben had already opened it to start it up. Before he could finish it, there was a roar behind him. He froze and turned to see a brown bear roaring at him. Ben stood up with a smile.

"Hey. You scared me there, Smokey," Ben said to the not-gentle giant. "Look at you. You're cute."

The bear roared in response as if he didn't like the 'cute' remark. Ben roared back even louder and the bear scampered away with a whimper.

"Yeah, that's right," Ben said. "Keep running, Boo-Boo! Overgrown furball."

Ben leaned back down to finish setting up. In the other part of the forest, Reed finished his machine by sequencing it into his palm-pilot.

"What's your status?" Reed said into the air.

"_Yeah, I'm good to go_," Ben replied through the ear communicator.

"_Same here_," Johnny said.

"Almost there," Sue replied for her and Hunter.

"Let's hurry up, it's getting creepy in here," Hunter said to Sue.

Sue nodded in agreement and looked down. Hunter turned as she heard the trees creaking.

"Did you hear that?" Hunter whispered.

Sue slowly looked up at Hunter, and nodded. She stood up and she looked over Hunter's shoulders to where the noise came from. The Silver Surfer came out from between the trees and quickly she grabbed Hunter and pulled her besides her.

"What?" Hunter said. She looked to where Sue was looking at, and mouthed 'oh'.

Sue pressed her ear piece, "Guys, we have a problem."

"_What's wrong?" _Reed asked.

"He's here," Sue responded as Hunter stood behind her.

"Oh my," Hunter whispered as she took in the sight of him.

"_Get out here. Right now!_" Reed commanded the others through both girls' earpieces.

Sue leaned down to press a button but the Surfer moved and she hesitated. The Surfer floated towards them. A field appeared in front of them and the Surfer simply leaned forward and went through it as if it wasn't there.

"Oh, no way!" Hunter said with her eyes widened. "How'd you do that?"

The Surfer gave no response as he looked at Sue. Sue let down the field.

"Why are you destroying our planet?" She asked the silver creature.

"I have no choice," the Surfer responded.

"Sue!" Reed cried out as he ran into the clearing.

"Wait!" Sue stopped him.

Hunter turned at the voice and she walked away from Sue to Reed. She took his hand, which he gripped.

"It's okay, I think," Hunter said.

Reed slowly stepped towards Sue and the creature, Hunter following.

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?" Sue asked. "There's always a choice."

The Surfer shook his head, "Not always."

Sue asked again, "Why are you trying to destroy us?"

"I am not the destroyer," He replied.

Then suddenly there was a shot and Hunter and Reed looked over to see a missile heading towards them. Hunter realized it was heading towards Sue more specifically.

"No!" Hunter cried. "Wait!"

Sue and the Surfer looked to see the missile. The man floated in front of her and as they watched, he flew off and let the board he stood on absorb the missile. Reed and Hunter stood by Sue as they watched.

As Sue stooped down to finish the machine, Hunter touched Sue's arm.

"Did you see that?" Sue whispered.

"I did, he protected you," Hunter replied. "I don't get it. If he's destroying the planet, then why is he protecting you?"

Sue shrugged; she had no answer for her as missile after missile went after the Silver Surfer. Reed, Johnny, and Ben grouped together.

"Let me after him," Johnny said as his chest burst into flames.

"No wait," Reed stopped him.

"Reed," Ben said.

"Come on Sue," Reed said as he looked on his palm-pilot, waiting for Sue to turn the machine online. As soon as she clicked it online, Reed pushed the button on his pilot and the machines activated and connected.

An invisible pulse hit the Surfer and he groaned. He floated through the board and despite his desperations to stay on his board; he landed on the ground. He became dull as his silver hue faded and tried to summon the board. But he failed as Doom came up to him and electrocuted him into unconsciousness.

"Not so tough are you now?" Doom said.

He looked up at the floating board and turned away just as the Fantastic Five entered the clearing.

"Victor, stay away!" Reed said.

"You're the quarterback," Doom said as he backed away.

Sue looked down at the fallen man and kneeled. Hunter stood between her and Reed.

"I have a feeling this was a mistake," Hunter said.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Later that night, everybody- all the soldiers, Doom, and the Fantastic Five- all stayed in a secret military base in Siberia. In a containment room, Hager and Reed were talking with the others looking on.

"But, General, we had an agreement," Reed said.

"Calm down," Hager said. "The enemy has been captured. Mission accomplished."

"Where is he?" Sue asked.

"Contained," was all Hager said.

A soldier called him out, and Hager turned towards the voice.

"Mr. Sherman," Hager said. "If you will excuse us, we have work to do."

"I want to be there for the questioning," Reed said.

"That's not gonna happen," Hager said. "Please make sure our guests remain here comfortably."

Reed sighed as the door closed.

"God knows what they are going to do to him," Hunter said, as she went to the door.

Johnny turned, noticed the camera in the corner, and chuckled.

"Are we prisoners?" Johnny asked. "How did that happen?"

"Looks like we are," Hunter said as she pulled on the door, "ugh, door's locked."

Reed turned away from the large map of the world on the wall and put his hands on the table in front of him. All watched him as his leadership role overtook him.

"Apparently, they don't want us interfering with their methods," Reed said.

"I can't imagine what they are doing to him in there," Sue said.

Ben spoke up, "I say he gets what he deserves."

"How can you say that?" Sue asked him as Hunter gaped at him.

"I'm just saying that maybe the general is right about this," Ben said. "The guy was about to destroy the planet. He said so himself."

"No he didn't," Hunter said just as Sue continued to defend the Surfer.

Reed looked at her as he caught her comment. What she said sparked a memory of the earlier events.

"But it doesn't make any sense," Sue said. "He protected me from the missile. Why would he do that?"

Johnny sat down in one of the chairs, "Maybe he thinks you're cute."

Hunter rolled her eyes at his comment.

"There's a lot more going on here," Reed said. "He said he wasn't the destroyer."

Ben looked at him and said, "maybe he lied."

Reed looked at him, still not convinced.

"We need to get inside there, and talk to him, " Reed said. "But under the radar."

Sue looked at him as she caught his smile. Moments later a plan was formed. Johnny knocked on the door and it opened to reveal a soldier on guard.

"Hey, uh, is there any way we can get some DVDs or popcorn or something, just to pass the time?" Johnny asked.

"And a pizza too!" Hunter added in as she popped up behind Johnny.

Johnny looked at her and she gave him an innocent look.

"What? I'm hungry," She claimed.

"I'll call it in, Mr. Storm, Miss. Grimm," the soldier said with a nod.

"Great. Thank you. Semper fi," Johnny said as he pushed the door wider.

"That's the marine corps," he said. "We're the army."

"Right, I know," Johnny said. "It's the army."

"Huh," Hunter said. "Who knew? You learn something new everyday."

The soldier nodded at her and turned away from the door. Unknowingly to him, Sue had snuck by invisible. Johnny closed the door. Sue went and searched for the Silver Surfer. On the way, she found the woman that always companied General Hager. She followed her to an area. Once they stopped, she turned towards the brick wall and using her special abilities, she looked through the wall and found him. She winced as she saw him being shocked. She turned and followed the young woman into the room. She stepped off onto the side, careful to avoid the other people in the room.

"General, Von Doom wants to speak with you," the woman said.

Hager nodded and spoke to the torturer, "Mr. Sherman, let's take a break."

Everybody left until it was only the Surfer and Sue left in the room. After a moment, the lone man sensed he was not alone.

"I know you are there," the man said.

Sue appeared and walked up to him.

"What's your name?" She asked.

Getting no answer from him, she tried again.

"Come on, you've got to have a name," She said. "I'm Susan."

She sighed and tried again with a different tactic when she still got no response from him.

"You said you weren't the one trying to destroy our world," she said. "Then who is?"

Finally she got a response when he spoke.

"The one I serve."

"Who do you serve?"

No answer from him as he just simply looked at her.

"Look, I'm trying to help you," she said. "But in order to do that, you have to tell me the truth. Please."

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Looking down, she noticed his stomach was disappearing. It was becoming an image. There it showed a planet and a smoke-like creature encased itself around it.

"It is known by many names," The man explained. "My people called it Galactus, the devourer of worlds."

She watched as the planet died and exploded.

"It must feed on energy to survive, both thermal and organic," he continued.

"How can you willingly serve this thing?" Sue asked, appalled.

"Because I must," he replied.

"Doesn't it bother you? All the worlds and innocent people you've helped destroy."

He simply looked at her, "My service spares my world, and the one I love."

"Why did you try to protect me?" She asked.

"Because…you remind me of her," he said.

She looked down and took his hand. Suddenly the door opened and she turned invisible.

"Could you stop the destroyer if you wanted to?" She asked.

"It is not I who draws the destroyer here," He replied. "It is the beacon."

"What is the beacon?"

"The source of my power."

"The board?" She asked.

He nodded and took noticed of the soldier watching him.

"Take joy in the last few hours you have left for he is nearly here."

Sue nodded even though he couldn't see her and she left him alone. She went back to the holding place and opened the door.

"What did you find out?" Reed asked.

"You were right Hunter," Sue said as she appeared. "What we did was a mistake. He is not the destroyer. He is just someone trying to protect his planet from something he called Galactus. He's just a servant. It is the board that is drawing it here, so it can devour the planet because it needs energy."

"How can you fight something that eats planets?" Johnny asked.

"We have to get to the board and lead it away from here before it's too late," Reed said.

"Well, do you think the general will go for that?" Ben asked.

Reed nodded, "He will have no choice."

"Somehow, Reed, I just don't believe that," Hunter said.

All Reed could do was nod at her. Ben walked up to the door and opened it, since it's not locked anymore, the soldier behind it believing they won't do anything.

"Hey you," Ben said to the solider. "Let me ask you something."

The solider nodded and stepped in front of him, which was a mistake because as soon as he got close enough, Ben grabbed him, pulled him inside, and let Johnny knock him out.

Meanwhile, General Hager met up with Doom.

"Well," Doom spoke up first, "I helped deliver the alien to you as promised. Now it's time to keep your end of the bargain."

"You can do your tests on the board," Hager complied. "But under armed guard and in my presence only."

"Absolutely," Doom said.

Together they walked to the containment that held the special board and Hager opened it with a password that required his fingerprints. The access was granted to him and together they entered the room. Doom walked up to the small machine that contained the board and admired it.

"Thank you, General, but I'm afraid the truth is," Doom said, "that sometimes Reed is right, and even that insufferable girl too."

Hager opened his mouth but Doom beat him to it by shocking him with electricity. His plan all along is being revealed. Doom suited up in his black cloak and put his new mask on his face. No longer Victor Von Doom in appearance, but Doom. He pushed a button on the machine he had created in secret and the board floated to him. It went through the glass and lowered to the ground so Doom could step on it, which is what he did. He reveled in the newfound power. As he stepped on it, the board changed from its' silvery color to the black that matched his coat. Lights flickered above him as Hager sat up and with his gun, shot at him.

The bullets bounced off of him and Doom turned towards him. Doom brought the power from the board and thrust it at Hager. The pulse went to Hager, and it killed him as it tore pieces from his body as if he was paper.

Doom looked at his hands and smiled behind his mask, "Nice."


	12. Chapter 12

Look at that! I made it pass the 11 chapters! The first story had 11 chapters and this one certainly is winning the multi-chaptered award! It took me all day to do six chapters, and it still took me a long time to write another six chapters because I had to pause the movie every time they said something so I can type it down. I used the closed captions to help and to really know what they were saying. Plus it's useful since I'm deaf. Look at that… you learned something new about me!

Anyways, enough of my rambling! Enjoy the twelfth chapter!

Chapter 12

Doom brought his hands down to the ground and a pulse erupted from him, making the blast go everywhere. It blasted against the door and pushed it forward. The large broken piece flew out into the hallway where the five just turned the corner. Johnny and Sue jumped out of the way as soon as they spotted it. Reed pushed Hunter out of the way and she hit the wall and landed on the ground with a cry. Reed winced as he heard her and stood behind Ben.

"Aw, crap," Ben said as it sailed towards him.

It smashed into him and pushed them into the wall behind them. Sue and Johnny got up from the ground, looked into the direction it came from to see that it had flew through several walls, and looked to other side to see Ben and Reed gone. Hunter still sat on the ground watching them. Then suddenly, the piece of wall fell down to reveal Ben embedded into the wall.

"Okay," he said, "that one hurt."

"Where's Reed?" Sue asked.

"Back here," a muffled voice sounded out.

Ben looked behind him and then stepped out. Reed was fine as he was just pushed on the wall. An imprint of Ben's body marked Reed. He pushed himself out of it and reformed back to normal. He looked at Ben with amazement.

"My bad," Ben said.

Reed nodded and looked over Ben to see Hunter.

"Hunter," Reed said as he went over to her. "I'm sorry."

She took the hand he offered and responded, "I'm good, hazards of the job."

Reed's eyes widened when he remembered her condition.

"The ba-"

"It's- I'm fine," She corrected and looked at him.

Reed nodded with a sigh, "Good, all right lets go."

Ben suddenly knew what was up with Hunter just by processing Reed and Hunter's slip-up. He let Reed ahead of him and as soon as Hunter was about to pass by him, he grabbed her arm.

"Whoa! What?" Hunter said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ben hissed as they followed the others.

"Tell you what?" Hunter looked at him confused.

"That you were pregnant!"

Hunter froze, as she looked at him, speechless.

"How did you… no, you know what, not now," Hunter said as she pulled her arm away from his grasp. "We're busy here."

"We are going to talk about this later," Ben said.

Hunter nodded and moved into the other room where the rest of the team was. Ben followed her. Sue heard her footsteps and whirled towards her with her hands up.

"Hunter no!" Sue said. "Stay where you are, you don't need to see this."

"See what?" Hunter said as she ignored what Sue said and stepped inside.

She looked in the direction the others were looking in and gasped. She brought a hand up to her mouth as her stomach rolled. She ran to a corner and bent over. Sue went and stood by Hunter as she emptied her stomach. The sight that greeted them was awful. The dead body of General Hager stared at them, pieces missing and turning into ash.

"It's okay," Sue whispered as she rubbed Hunter's back.

Hunter wiped her mouth and stood up.

"It's not okay! He just murdered a man!" Hunter said as she gestured over to the corpse.

"We've got to get it back," Reed said.

Hunter and Sue went back to the others. Hunter ignored the dead body.

"We need to get to the Surfer," Sue said. "He's the only one that understands its' power."

"Even if we break him out of this place," Ben said, "how are we gonna catch up to Victor?"

Reed nodded, smiled, and responded to Ben, "Leave that to me."

He took out his palm pilot and pressed several buttons. As whatever Reed called came to them, they busted out the Silver Surfer. Ben ran and broke through the wall and headed for the window doors. Sue caught the two guards in her bubbles made of the force field. Ben broke through the windows, popping them off the hinges.

"Pal, this is the luckiest day of your life," Ben said to the Surfer.

Ben pulled off the restraints and Reed took ahold of him, letting the Surfer lean on him. They all departed the room and ran into the hallway where they had the bad fortune to encounter the woman who always stood by Hager. They stopped as she pulled her gun on them.

"What the hell is going on?" She demanded. "Where is General Hager?"

"He's dead," Reed said.

"If we don't get him out of here," Ben said, "we're all gonna be."

"Frankie," Johnny started.

She moved her gun towards him and he stopped. He opened his mouth but Hunter stepped forwards.

"Oh, for gods sake!" Hunter said before she stood in front of Frankie.

She grabbed the gun in her hand and wrenched it out. The woman looked at her in surprise.

"Good night," Hunter said as she pulled back an arm and let it fly.

Frankie crumbled to the ground as she was knocked out. Hunter threw the gun off the side and turned towards the others. They all stared at her opened-mouth except for the Surfer.

"What?" Hunter said as she brought her hands up. "I don't like her, and we didn't have time."

Johnny grinned and shouted, "That's my girlfriend!"

He went up to her intending to kiss her but Hunter put a hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Frankie?" Hunter asked.

Johnny stuttered and gave up, "I love you?"

Hunter smiled, "That's much better."

Johnny grinned his traditional smile and kissed her on the lips, swapping their powers back.

"Let's go lovebirds," Reed said as he passed by them.

They all headed for the stairs and went up to it.

"We need to get to the roof," Reed said as he helped the Surfer. "It should be here by now."

"What should be here?" Ben asked.

Ben opened the door to the roof and ran out. He looked out and his mouth dropped. The others looked in the direction and the others who didn't know about the oncoming object dropped theirs. It banked around and stopped in front of them. It was a small aircraft.

"Holy crap," Ben said.

Johnny looked at Reed and said his name. He followed Ben on the ramp, Hunter behind him.

"This is by far the coolest thing you have ever done!" Johnny claimed in excitement.

He laughed, as he got closer to it. He looked it over and noted the brand.

"Hemi?"

Reed looked back at him with a smile and nodded, "Course."

"Looks like you're not the only one with a secret," Hunter said.

Ben and Reed gave her a look as Johnny looked at her with confusion.

"What secret?" Johnny said.

"Nothing," Hunter said, as she turned away and went to inspect the other side of the aircraft.

Johnny knew something was up but he couldn't press on as Reed spouted out orders.

"Okay, Ben, you get inside," Reed said. "Johnny, Hunter, you guys fly behind us."

"No, she's riding with us," Ben interrupted.

"No way!" Hunter said. "I can protect myself."

She climbed on the railing, iced up, and jumped off.

"Sorry Ben," Reed said. "There's no room for her anyways."

Ben growled. Johnny watched her bank up and float in front of them. He turned to look at Reed with a pleading look.

"Dude," Johnny said, "you gotta let me fly this thing."

"Forget about it," Ben said. "I'm the best pilot here. I should drive."

Reed and Sue looked back and forth as each man spoke.

"Are you serious? We'll be lucky of this thing can carry you!" Johnny spoke.

Hunter groaned in annoyance.

"I can fly circles around you blindfolded," Ben retorted back.

"Guys!" Sue said.

Johnny opened his mouth but Reed cut in.

"Ah, shut up!" Reed said annoyed. "And move it!"

Johnny and Ben looked at each other as Reed, Sue, and the Surfer passed between them.

"I'm driving," Reed continued.

Johnny smiled, ran for the railing, and shouted "Flame on!"

Hunter followed the aircraft as it flew up into the air, Johnny following behind. He flew next to her.

"What is this secret you were talking about?" Johnny asked.

"It's nothing!" Hunter said without looking at him.

Johnny was fed up and he took her arm, stopping them in mid-air.

"What is going on with you?" Johnny asked. "And don't tell me it's nothing. There's something."

Hunter shook her head, "Now's not the time Johnny, I'm sorry."

She gently pulled her arm out of his hand and flew off. Johnny grunted and growled with frustration and followed her. They flew higher and met up with the craft in time to hear Ben.

"Okay," Ben said, "we're now officially enemies of the United States of America. Victor is out there somewhere with unlimited power, and we've got a giant intergalactic force that's about to destroy our planet in less than 24 hours. Did I miss anything?"

"Way to boost team morale, bro," Hunter said as she flew beside him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"I've got a lock on Victor's energy trail," Reed said to the group. "He's headed over Southeast China. Hang on."

Reed boosted the speed and changed directions. Johnny flew beside Sue and he turned his head as he heard the Silver Surfer.

"Norrin Radd," the man said.

"What?" Sue asked.

"I was once called Norrin Radd," Norrin repeated.

"Norrin," Sue said to him, "we're gonna need your help to save our world. Do you understand?"

Norrin simply looked at her. Suddenly, up front the machine began to go haywire, and then a blast hit the craft. Hunter and Johnny flew away as the craft was knocked about.

"Whoa! What the hell was that?" Ben cried.

Reed looked up to see Doom flying at them.

"Victor, the board is drawing the destroyer here!" Reed shouted over the wind. "You have to give it up!"

"You know, "Doom said. "I've never been the giving type, Reed."

Doom pulsed his arm up but Reed was ready and maneuvered the craft away. They headed to a forest area and Johnny turned in the air and aimed for Doom. Hunter continued on with the craft. Doom brought his hand up and water drenched Johnny. He screamed as the fire was forced to disappear. Doom aimed for the craft but missed as he hit the water instead.

"We're sitting ducks!" Ben shouted.

"We're gonna have to split up," Reed said.

"What?" Sue screeched.

Ben muttered to himself, "This ought to be fun."

The aircraft broke apart as Reed shouted to Sue.

"Stay close to me, Sue!" Reed said.

Hunter flew beside Sue.

"I'll be here! I'll help you," Hunter said to the other woman.

Hunter stayed close to Sue as the others flew off. A rockslide occurred thanks to Doom and they were forced to fly under the debris.

"You're doing good Sue!" Hunter encouraged her just as a blast from Doom barely missed them.

Hunter turned as she flew and sent off a blast of ice towards him. Doom waved it away as if it was just dust. Reed saw them and headed for them, knowing they needed help.

"He's really pissing me off!" Sue hollered.

"Agreed," Hunter muttered as she followed Sue.

Another bout of rockslide had Hunter avoiding it but Sue still heading for it. Reed stretched his arm out and pulled Sue's craft away. Doom banked out of the way and turned but was met with Ben's fist instead.

"Surf's up, metal boy!" Ben growled.

Reed went back to Victor to keep trying to convince him to give up the board.

"Victor," he said, "only the Surfer can stop the destroyer! But he needs his board!"

"Come and get it Richards," Doom said.

Someone said his name, and he looked around to find that the Fantastic Five surrounded him.

"Let's all go for a spin!" Doom shouted as he spun himself around, creating a whirlpool of air.

The five yelled as they became stuck in the whirlpool. All tried to regain control, but Doom sent them flying to the city. Hunter landed on Sue's aircraft, and the force of her land pushed it towards the approaching ground faster. Sue's craft hit several buildings before it finally slid along the road. People screamed as it landed. Suddenly they stopped. Silence ensued for a moment, before Hunter, who groaned, broke it.

"Oh god," Hunter moaned. "Sue?"

She slid off the craft and sat on the ground. She turned when she heard Sue.

"Hunter?" Sue asked.

"I'm here," Hunter responded as she stood up straight.

She followed Sue's eyesight to see that the Surfer wasn't in the craft but standing in the street. Hunter looked up to see Doom coming at them.

"Oh, no you don't!" Hunter screeched as she iced over and flew at him.

Doom chuckled and grabbed her throat. Hunter grunted as he squeezed the air out of her.

"I've waited a long time for this moment," Doom whispered. "You know, it was you I hated the most because you condemned me to my fate."

"And I'll do it again," Hunter grunted, "if I have to."

"Ah, but you won't. I killed you last time," Doom said.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Hunter whispered.

"This," Doom replied as he brought out a knife that was hidden in his cloak.

Hunter's eyes widened as she saw it. She wriggled as she tried to get out of his grip.

"Ah," Doom said as he noticed her eyes, "I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to make you suffer."

With that, he pushed the knife into her stomach and Hunter gasped. She squeezed his arm as her iced form melted away.

"By killing your child," Doom continued as he twisted the knife.

Hunter let out a strangled cry as Sue screamed her name. Doom cackled like a witch as he let her go, and she dropped to the ground with a thud. Hunter pressed a hand to her stomach as she tried to stop the bleeding. Tears pooled in her eyes as the realization of losing her child hit her. She rolled over to see Sue looking at her with horror.

"You bastard!" Sue screamed at him.

"Uh uh, language Sue," Doom said as he put the knife away.

He brought his hand up and conjured up a large, thin weapon.

"Norrin!" Sue cried as she pulled off her seatbelt and scrambled out of the aircraft.

She ran as Doom threw the weapon. She stood in front of Norrin and brought up the force field. But the field did not protect them as it was meant to because the weapon simply passed through it and hit Sue.

"Sue!" Hunter screamed as she struggled to get up from the ground. "No!"

"Sue!" Reed called out as he watched her fall.

Hunter finally managed to stand up just as he passed her by. Reed landed on his knees beside her and cried out her name twice. Ben and Johnny joined them, Hunter just behind Ben.

"Sue," Johnny whispered as he went to her.

"Johnny, don't touch her," Ben said.

"Oh god, oh god," Reed said as Sue looked at him.

"You need to find a way to get the board," Sue said.

"Sue, I-"

"Okay?" Sue asked.

Tears poured down Hunter's cheeks as she muffled her cries behind her hand, the other still pressed against her wound. She shook her head when she spotted Sue looking at her. Sue knew what it meant, and she didn't say anything about Doom knifing Hunter. A rumble resounded from above and all looked at up.

"He is here," the Surfer said.

The sky turned grey as a storm brewed, indicating that Galactus is indeed here.

"Reed," Ben said as he put a hand on Reed's shoulder. "Reed."

Reed looked at him and then back to Sue, "Victor's got to have a pulse emitter linking him to his board. We take it out, we can separate him from his board."

"He's too strong for me," Johnny said.

"I could whale on him, if I could get close enough," Ben said. "But he could see me coming from a mile away."

"My powers don't work on him," Hunter said.

Reed looked at Sue, who was coughing.

"It would take all of us," Reed said as he looked back to his teammates.

"Or maybe just one of us," Johnny said.

Everyone understood the idea.

"We don't know what it could do to you," Reed said.

"Let's not make this about me," Johnny said.

All agreed as each one put their hands together. Hunter was careful to put down the blood-less hand. Johnny put his on top of the others and instantly all the powers went to him. Ben went back to normal, without his rock-like appearance. Johnny nodded to them and flew off. Hunter watched him as she stepped away from the huddled group. She stood as more tears came down.

"To quote a friend of mine," Johnny said as he flew up to Doom, "it's clobbering time."

Doom looked over to see nothing but his reflection in one of the buildings. Johnny appeared from the invisibility power, fire and ice on parts of his body that is helping him fly. Doom gasped as Johnny formed a rock-like fist, expanded it, and pulled it back to hit Doom. Doom flew back from the hit and Johnny caught him and kicked him. Doom flew backwards again and hit one of the buildings. Then he caught his bearings, and headed for Johnny. Doom pulled all the pieces of the building apart and threw it at Johnny. The force hit him and he flew backwards. He stretched, caught a building, and swung himself around.

Down below, Ben found clothes that fit him and he went climbing onto a construction site. He went up the ladder and into one of the machines. Johnny continued to fight Doom. The surfboard went falling as Johnny managed to knock out the controller.

"You ain't goin down fighting, kid," Ben said as he turned on the machine and moved the controllers inside. "Not without me."

The machine held a large metal bar and Ben moved it towards them. The bar hit Doom, and had him flying out like he was a baseball. He landed in the water. Hunter smiled as she watched him fly. She looked over when she heard footsteps. She saw the Surfer and he stood in front of her. He looked down to her blood covered hand.

"I cannot save both," he said.

"I understand," Hunter said as she nodded. "Don't bother with me, save Sue. She's the glue to this family, we can't lose her."

Norrin Radd gave her a nod and walked passed her to Reed who was holding Sue. Johnny landed and touched Hunter's shoulder, giving her power back. Hunter gasped slightly as Johnny continued on. He touched Ben, Reed, and Sue, giving them all back their powers. Hunter turned and nearly stumbled from the lack of blood and energy. She watched as Sue succumbed to her death. She walked up until she was right behind Ben, hidden from the others. They watched as Reed cried and pulled Sue into his arms. Norrin looked away as his board came back. He summoned it to him and stood on it.

Reed looked at the Silver Surfer, "You've got to go."

He watched as the surfer bent down and touched Sue. Patches on his body dimmed from bright silver to a dull grey. Sue glowed a bit as Reed and the others watched.

The Surfer pulled back and spoke, "Treasure each moment with her and tell her she was right- we do have a choice."

Reed looked down to Sue in his arms and back up when the surfer spoke again.

"Tell her also, that I could only save one," the surfer said before he looked up and flew away.

"I don't understand," Ben said.

Reed shook his head, neither did he. He looked at Sue and to his surprise, Sue moved. She was alive. He smiled and looked at the others. Johnny made a decision and flew off after the surfer.

"Thought you could use a hand," Johnny said as the surfer looked back.

The surfer smiled and propelled forwards.

"Oh, my god," Johnny said as he caught sight of the destroyer.

He let go of the board and fell before he flamed on and headed towards the ground. Johnny continued as the buildings and electricity exploded on the ground around the other four.

"Why isn't working?" Ben asked.

Reed looked up to the sky and responded, "We were too late."

Reed looked at Sue as the roaring and everything stopped. Everything darkened for a moment before the electricity came back on. Reed smiled when he saw that Sue was looking at him.

"Hi," Sue whispered.

"Hi," Reed whispered back.

Sue looked around and back at Reed, "What'd I miss?"

Reed let out a small laugh and Sue smiled. Ben laughed as well, relieved that Sue was all right. Johnny landed in between Hunter and Ben. Ben headed for him.

"Heh, great job kid," Ben said as he smacked Johnny's back.

Johnny scampered away, "Whoa, whoa."

He looked at Ben and laughed

"Ha! I'm not changing," Johnny cheered.

"Hey, that's right!" Ben laughed as Johnny touched his arm and then hugged him. "Great! Oh, okay. Now you're making me uncomfortable."

Hunter smiled through her tears as she watched them. She looked down at her hand and pulled it away to see the red staining her hand. She swallowed thickly and looked back up to see Johnny walking towards Sue. Hunter wiped the tears away and stood next to Ben who wrapped an arm around her shoulder. They watched as Sue and Johnny hugged each other. They pulled apart, and Sue looked at Hunter.

Hunter smiled at Sue and leaned her head on Ben's chest. Her eyes closed and her legs gave out just as Sue called her name. Ben quickly held on to her as she fell.

"Whoa," Ben said as he laid her on the ground. "Hunter?"

Ben palmed her cheek and put his hand on her stomach only to find there was sticky, wet blood.

"No," Ben whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

I nearly cried writing this. I've been waiting a long time to write this one.

Chapter 14

"No!" Johnny cried once he saw Hunter.

He scampered from Sue and kneeled down to the other side of Hunter. He started crying as he touched her cheek. Sue walked around Johnny and sat down to pull Hunter's head into her lap. Reed kneeled down between Sue and Johnny.

"Hunter," Johnny whispered.

Hunter opened her eyes at his voice and looked at him. She started crying as soon as she saw his tears.

"I'm sorry," Hunter cried.

"No," Johnny said as he ran his hand through her hair. "It's not your fault, it's okay."

"No, it's not," Hunter said as she pulled the zipper at her neck down a bit. "I didn't tell you. I'm sorry, I should've."

"Tell me what?" Johnny asked.

Hunter pulled out a small piece of paper from under her uniform and handed it to him, her hand shaking. "I- I'm pregnant."

Johnny let out a gasp as he heard her and looked at the paper. He unfolded it and tears pooled and spilled again as he looked at the sonogram.

"Oh god, why?" He asked.

"I don't know, I was scared and…and I just couldn't," Hunter said.

"Shh," Sue crooned as she caressed Hunter's forehead.

Hunter looked at her, "I'm sorry I got mad at you."

"No," Sue said as her tears started falling. "It's okay."

Hunter looked at Reed who just smiled and thumbed her cheek. She looked at Ben.

"Bro," she whispered.

"Hey, sis," Ben responded.

"You still mad at me," She swallowed, "for not telling you?"

Ben shook his head as tears trailed down his large cheeks, "No, I couldn't stay mad at you anyways."

He kissed her hand and Hunter smiled. She looked at Johnny.

"Johnny?" She asked.

Johnny looked up from the sonogram.

"What is it?" He asked.

Hunter let out a laugh, "It's a girl. I'm two months along. I wanted to name her Hope, because she gave me hope that everything would be all right."

Johnny smiled, "It's perfect."

Hunter's breathing got labored and more tears ran down her cheeks. Johnny handed the sonogram to Reed who took it and he bent down to her face. He cupped her cheeks.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," Hunter whispered as Johnny pressed his lips against hers.

She took her hand out of Ben's grip and set it on the back of Johnny's neck. She whimpered against his lips. Her hand went limp and fell from his neck. Johnny pulled away when she stopped kissing back. He looked at her and let out a cry. He pulled her dead body to his chest and he rocked her.

"No," Johnny whispered, "please don't go. Not again."

Ben put his head into his large hands and cried as Sue and Reed held onto each other. They all, except for Sue, finally understood what the Surfer meant when he could only save one. Johnny's cries became muffled as he buried his face into the crook of her neck, letting her head fall slightly backwards. Suddenly, they jumped as Ben slammed his fist into the ground.

"Why?" Ben cried. "Why her?"

Reed shook his head, unable to give an answer. He looked at Hunter and his eyes widened. He pushed Sue off gently and gave her the sonogram.

"Reed?" Sue asked.

Johnny looked up at her voice and looked at Reed who was staring at Hunter's stomach and pressing a finger against her throat. Johnny looked down and was surprised to see a golden glow emanating from her.

"What's going on?" Johnny whispered.

"I don't know," Reed answered as he pulled Hunter from Johnny's grasps and laid her on the ground. "But she has a pulse."

"What?" Ben asked.

They watched as the glow grew brighter and bigger until it covered her entire body and everyone had to turn away from the bright light. Once the light dimmed and disappeared, they looked back. Reed ran his hand over the torn portion of her uniform on her stomach and pulled it apart.

"It's gone," He said in surprise. "Her wound, all the blood…it's gone."

Johnny looked at Reed and once his words penetrated his brain, his eyes widened.

"She's alive?" He whispered.

Reed nodded and Johnny bent down quickly, cupping her cheeks again.

"Hunter?" He whispered to her. "C'mon babe, come back to me."

He kissed her hard and pulled back. All watched in anticipation as they waited.

"Now I feel like Sleeping Beauty when her Prince wakes her up," Hunter said as she opened her eyes.

Johnny laughed and pulled her up into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed hard. She pushed him off and smiled at him.

"Let me up," She said.

Johnny nodded and together, he and Reed pulled Hunter up until she was standing. Ben and Sue copied them and stood up. Reed pulled her into a hug. Johnny joined in by wrapping his arms around them. Sue and Ben did the same until they were all hugging as a group.

Hunter laughed, "Okay you guys, you're suffocating me here."

Instantly they all sprang apart.

"Jeez, you guys," Hunter said as she noted their worried expressions. "I was just kidding."

They let out a collective sigh. Hunter rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Johnny's waist.

"So how-," Ben asked, "I mean, you were dead?"

"I was," Hunter said. "It was the baby. Apparently, our little girl has some powers of her own. She healed me."

"So you're still…" Johnny asked.

She looked at him, "Yea, I'm still pregnant."

Johnny let out a whoop and twirled Hunter around in excitement.

"I'm gonna be a daddy," He whispered.

"Yup," Hunter said before looking at Ben, "and you are going to be an uncle."

Ben smiled big. Hunter giggled as she went to him and they hugged. Sue handed her the sonogram and Hunter smiled her thanks. She pressed it against her heart.

"So I guess this is it," Johnny said as he came up to Hunter.

Everyone looked at him.

Ben continued for Johnny, "We all go our separate ways."

"No," Sue said.

Hunter and Ben looked at her.

"No?" Ben asked.

"No."

"No?" Ben asked again.

Hunter slapped his chest, "She already said it bro!"

Reed smiled, "If it wasn't for the team, the whole world would be gone by now."

"Yea, no thanks to Doom," Hunter quipped.

Ben growled and Hunter shushed him.

"We can't run away from our responsibilities and the people we need to protect," Sue said. "This is who we are."

"That's what I've been saying," Johnny said.

"What about having a normal life, a family?" Ben asked.

"Who says you have to be normal to have a family?" Reed responded.

"I guess this means we're no longer normal eh?" Hunter said.

Sue let out a small laugh, "No, I don't think so."

She put her hand through Reed's arm and walked. The others followed them and they walked through the torn street.

"So you up for another media circus wedding?" Sue asked Reed. "Fifth time's the charm."

He looked at her and let out a sigh, "No."

He looked at the others and then her with a smile, "I've got a better idea."


	15. Chapter 15-Epilouge

Oh, I can't believe this is the end already! I nearly cried at the end of the 14th chapter. I didn't want to end it there, but I had to so we could have a really happy ending! I enjoyed all the reviews, and favorites I've gotten over the story. I have an idea for a third and maybe final Fantastic Five story. I will let you know when to look for it in one of my other stories.

Thanks for being my loyal readers!

Epilogue

A few days later had the group still in China waiting for the wedding of Reed and Sue to finally happen. The sun was shining and smiles were beaming all around. Johnny led Sue to the front and she smiled at Reed as she stood by him. Johnny stood next to Hunter and he winked at her. She giggled. Ben stood next to Alicia who had been flown in for the special occasion. Frankie, the woman who Hunter had knocked out, sat in the front in the audience.

"Just so you know," Johnny whispered to Hunter, "I didn't invite Frankie."

"I know," Hunter whispered back, "I did."

"Why?"

"Well, I felt bad for punching her, so I invited her. It's not just so I could torture you," Hunter responded.

"Are you sure Hope healed you fully?" Johnny asked. "Seems like you must've knocked your head in the battle."

Hunter smacked his chest and kissed him, "Hush you."

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Reed Richards and Susan Storm together-" The preacher from the previous wedding spoke before being interrupted by a beeping sound.

Sue looked at him as Reed frantically pulled out his PDA.

"What is it?" Sue whispered, not angry at all that Reed brought it to the wedding.

"Venice is sinking into the Adriatic," Reed sighed.

"Oh, boy. That's a biggie," Ben muttered.

Sue looked at the preacher, "Could we just skip to the end?"

Hunter let out a laugh behind her hand.

"Yeah, uh, the love these two share-"

"No, the very end," Reed clarified.

"Uh, great," the preacher said, defeated. "You have the rings?"

Reed turned to Ben who gave him his as Hunter gave Sue hers. They slid the rings on each other's fingers and held hands. They looked at each other and smiled and waited. Then they looked at the preacher.

"Oh, yeah. I now pronounce you man and wife," he said. "And you may kiss the bride."

They kissed as a married couple and then they pulled back with huge, beaming smiles.

"Okay," Sue said. "We should get out of here."

Reed agreed and nodded, "Yeah."

"Got to go, hun," Ben said to Alicia and kissed her.

"Let's go," Hunter said to Johnny and they followed the others to the newly fixed aircraft.

Ben, Johnny, and Hunter were already at the aircraft as they had gotten ahead of the husband and wife. They had been held back by the people congratulating them.

Sue stopped Reed just before they entered the craft.

"I have to throw the bouquet," Sue said to Reed who just smiled. She turned to the audience behind her. "Ready?"

Turning around so her back was to them, she threw the bouquet behind her and quickly turned around to watch the flowers sail through the air. Hunter and Ben watched as Johnny was looking down.

"Heads up Johnny," Ben warned him.

Johnny looked up in time to see the bouquet heading for Frankie. He pointed to it and it burst to flames just as it fell on the ground in front of her. They looked at Johnny.

"Sorry," Johnny said as he looked at Frankie. "Reflex."

Hunter looked at him and patted his cheek, "Good boy!" She said it loud enough so everyone could hear.

Ben laughed as Johnny's cheeks stained red. Frankie just shook her head, knowing she lost him. Sue and Reed hopped into the craft and started it up. They flew off into the sky, ready for their next adventure as the people down below laughed and waved. They watched as the craft broke into smaller parts and they made the Fantastic Five sign in the sky using the smoke. They disappeared into the distance as the smoke faded away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~F5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~F5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~F5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you guys think!

Ronni! 3


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